Mad About You
by lilyyuri
Summary: When a bad dream turns to a very good thing indeed. SLASH! Harry X Seamus. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Rating:** Mild Slash. (Will get more graphic in coming episodes… Tah da da!)

**Summery:** Harry and Seamus are left alone in the Gryffindor tower for the Christmas Holidays. A bad dream bring very interesting results.

**Bata:** Beankin' and Tamara – I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 1**

Artist - Sting. Title - Mad About You. Album - The Soul Cages.

It was the first day of the holidays. The whole school was practically deserted as most students went home. The only ones left in the Gryffindor tower were Harry and Seamus and several first years.

Ron had invited Harry to come and stay at the Burrow for the holidays as he did every Christmas but this year Harry decided it would be much safer for him to stay at Hogwarts. He couldn't bring himself to face any of them right now, Ginny in particular. Not after what happened with Terry. Harry simply couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes and see that love. It made him feel lower than dirt. He knew he would have to tell her about himself but he just couldn't bring himself to do that. No. it was much safer to stay here, think things over and try to make some sense of his life.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

It was the middle of the night when Seamus woke up. At first he couldn't figure out what it was that woke him, but after several seconds there it was again. A soft agonized moan coming from behind the curtains around Harry's bed, Harry was obviously having a bad dream. This was very weird, thought Seamus- he knew that Harry used to have bad dreams, usually when the Dark Lord was feeling murderous and angry, but the Dark Lord had been vanquished by Harry last summer. Was it possible Harry was actually having a 'normal' nightmare? If the others were there he probably wouldn't even hear it because of Ron and Neville's snoring but in the deep quiet of the empty dorm the sounds Harry was making were echoing like screams and Seamus decided to go see what was wrong.

He crept slowly to Harry's bed and gently pulled the curtain aside. Harry was lying on his back, his head tossing restlessly from side to side. Seamus wasn't sure what to do, so he gingerly sat on the side of the bed and slowly reached his hand to touch Harry's hair. The locks felt so soft under his hand that he twisted his fingers around them. It seemed to work somewhat, Harry's head stopped moving and the moaning subsided.

Seamus kept stroking the hair, not entirely sure why, when Harry turned towards him and threw his arms around Seamus, dragging him to a half lying position besides him. Seamus held his breath. He was never that close to a guy before, especially not in a bed, but this felt right in place. Not entirely aware of what he was doing, Seamus slid down to lay bedside Harry. He softly put his arms around the sleeping boy and Harry nestled himself against Seamus's shoulder. He seemed to be relaxed and probably forgot all about the dream by now but Seamus didn't feel like moving. He wrapped the blanket carefully around both of them and closed his eyes.

When Harry opened his eyes the next morning he found he wasn't alone in his bed. He turned his head and saw Seamus fast asleep by his side. He couldn't remember how Seamus got there but now that he was in his bed it felt really nice. He stirred a little to make himself a little more comfortable and Seamus opened his eyes.

"Good morning." he murmured with a slow smile, not fully awake.

"Seamus, what happened last night?" asked Harry carefully, the last thing he wanted was to find out something great happened and he slept through it. But then again, this was Seamus! They were friends! Just _friends._

"You had a bad dream." said Seamus and stretched a bit, then tucked his head on Harry's shoulder and fell back to sleep. Harry lay with his eyes open. He couldn't remember the dream, or even having a bad dream in the first place, which was very unusual for him since he usually remembered all his nightmares as more than once they proved to be premonitions. Since the fall of the Dark Lord he didn't have bad dreams or premonitions, which was a blessing. If only he had known that it took so little to get rid of a bad dream he would have got himself a boyfriend a long time ago, or at least a teddy bear. Seamus' body was warm against his own and he could feel the soft breath on his neck.

Suddenly Harry was all too aware of Seamus' hand on his stomach, in the space between his t- shirt and flannel bottoms, his fingers touching bare skin. Harry tried to avert his mind from the heat he felt at the meeting point of his and Seamus' skins but it was hard. He is my friend; he told himself firmly, I can't have lusty thoughts over my friend. That's just wrong! He doesn't even like guys _that_ way, after all he and Parvati have been going out together for _ages._ Shit! He is so cute, and gorgeous, how come I didn't see that before? Could it be because he is my _friend_ and I do _not_ lust over my friends! Oh, who am I kidding? I'd snog him right now if I wasn't such a coward… Fuck, Fuck, Fuck! I have to get out of here before something will happen and then we'll both be sorry. Ok, I'm leaving…leaving… I don't want to go… Holy shit, was it Seamus' hand? No way, it was probably just a sleep spasm, get your mind out of the gutter Harry and get up! Ok, _that_ was definitely NOT a sleep spasm, oh my god, oh my god his hand is moving down… oh Fuck! Time to move, NOW!

Harry jumped from his bed and made his way as quickly as possible to the showers. He leaned on the door and slid his own hand down his pyjamas. He knew it would be futile to try and think logically while masturbating so he let his mind drift and all he came up with was Seamus. Apparently sharing a dorm for seven years had its benefits as he could bring up images of almost every part of Seamus' anatomy which was very helpful right now. Seamus' fair skin and long limbs. Unlike Ron who looked like someone kept stretching him, Seamus wasn't as tall but he was lean, Harry could almost feel his long fingers caressing his skin, working their way on his body. Seamus' eyes, as bright blue as forget-me-not flowers, his full luscious lips on Harry's neck, chest and stomach… Oh, yes, that was so good! Harry came with a shudder and stood panting against the door. In his hurry to leave his bed he forgot his wand, which meant he would have to clean himself the muggle way. He moved to the nearest sink and did his best to get rid of the evidence.

He sighed and looked at himself in the mirror, wild eyed and messy from the sleep and from wanking. This was ridiculous. He leaned his forehead against the mirror and tried to compose himself back together and stop thinking about Seamus when he heard a cheerful voice calling from behind him, "Morning Harry." Harry turned so fast he almost lost his balance and fell over. He looked at Seamus who was smiling in a very friendly and completely innocent way at him and couldn't say anything. Instead he walked past him leaving the shower as fast as he could.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

By the time Seamus came back to the dorm room it was empty. Harry had apparently gone down to breakfast already. Seamus got dressed slowly. What the hell was wrong with Harry? It was true Seamus wasn't really asleep, and _did_ try to get his hand down Harry's pants, but he felt that Harry's reaction was a bit over the top. He should be glad Harry didn't try to punch him, thought Seamus; it was a really stupid stunt to pull. He should have known it wouldn't go down easy. After all Harry was kind of going out with Ginny, and what on earth could I offer that was better than the pure love and admiration that shone in Ginny's eyes every time she looked at Harry. Harry was really lucky to have someone like her. The entire school believed he himself was dating Parvati, which he was, in a way, but it was part cover up for both of them and mostly friendship, they just got along really well and they cared a lot for each other. But the fact remained that he preferred boys, just like she preferred girls. And Harry was very high up on his list of potential shags. I mean, who wouldn't want him? Forget the whole hero thing for a minute, he's a hottie! Those green eyes you just want to lose yourself in, his body, thin and muscular from all that Quidditch. Seamus could just see it, the long smooth muscles of Harry's back moving fluidly as he put on his shirt, the curves of his hips, the shape of his arse… A group of giggly first years coming down the stairs jerked Seamus out of his thoughts and he leaned feebly against the wall. This was not good. He shook his head to clear it and waited until he could walk again.

When he reached the Great Hall, he planned to get a seat at the end of the big table, as far as possible from Harry. Since it was Christmas and most of the school was empty, all the house tables were gone but one, which was put in the middle of the hall for the students who remained in Hogwarts for the holidays. Not that it made much difference to Seamus, since both he and Harry were Gryffindors and sat at the same table anyway. Before he could choose a seat, though, Terry Boot called him over from the place where all the seventh years sat and Seamus had no choice but to go sit with them. And since Murphy's Law is inevitable, he found himself seated right across from Harry. Harry stubbornly ignored him and Seamus felt lousy about the whole situation. He didn't want Harry to be mad at him, especially for something as stupid as this. He had to rectify things quickly if he didn't want to lose Harry as a friend, but he had absolutely no idea what to do.

Harry could feel Seamus' eyes on him during breakfast and had to do his best to ignore him. This was so stupid. He'd just have to push back all unholy thoughts of Seamus if he wanted to continue being his friend. I should probably ask Terry to set me up with one of his ex-lovers, he told himself. Yeah, like that would work, the reason his reaction was so strong was because Seamus was more than potential shag. But was it possible for him to spend time with Seamus, be his friend when what he truly wanted to do was grab him and kiss him and get him naked and do… Shit, not again! I really have to stop doing that! He thought furiously.

The seventh years remaining in Hogwarts spent the rest of that day outdoors, taking advantage of the fine weather for snowball fighting, snowmen building and generally enjoying the snow. There were only six of them, Terry Boot and Kate Mason from Ravenclaw and Hannah Abbot and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff who kept tripping each other 'accidentally' and kissing, and of course Harry and Seamus. It would have been a really great day, thought Harry, if he wasn't constantly distracted by how gorgeous Seamus looked, playing in the snow and then trying to ignore the little voices in his head that kept saying stuff like 'I'd do him right here in the snow'. This was far more tiring than he ever imagined. Of course the sight of Hannah and Ernie's little love smiles and kisses didn't really help him steer his mind off things.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon they finally entered the castle, leaving various magically made snow sculptures behind them, and each turned to his common room to take a shower and get ready for the Christmas feast that was to take place that evening in the Great Hall. Harry and Seamus made their way to the Gryffindor tower, each wrapped up deep in his thoughts.

They each took a quick shower, doing their best to avoid looking at each other, and got dressed facing their own wardrobes. This is ridiculous, thought Seamus desperately, I have to talk to him, and I have to apologize if I don't wish to spend the entire holiday facing the bloody wardrobe every bloody time he's in the bloody room!

"Harry, can we talk?" he asked gingerly

"We are going to be late for the feast." Harry said and left the room quickly, leaving Seamus behind looking rather confused and checking his watch. It was only twenty past five, the feast was not going to take place until seven p.m.… he sighed, this is going to be much harder than he thought, he's going to have to corner Harry after the feast and talk to him even if it meant tying him to a chair. Oh, wrong place to go, again! He made his way to the common room and found the first years playing exploding snap and chatting cheerfully. Were we that annoying when we were in first year? He thought as he left the tower.

After leaving his dorms Harry made his way through the corridors, his first thought was to go visit professor Lupin, but then he remembered tonight would be a full moon and professor Lupin probably won't be in a very chatty mood. Then he thought of going to visit Hagrid, but ever since his marriage to Madame Maxime and the birth of their son he was hardly seen around the castle outside lessons. Besides, Harry could still remember the last time Hagrid let him carry Jean-Luc, the baby was only six months old at the time and yet Harry needed Hermione's help afterwards in finding a spell to alleviate the pain in his back. That kid was a handful, in more ways than one. He sighed; this would be a really good time to consult my godfather, he thought miserably.

In the end he found himself in the astronomy tower sitting on the floor and watching the sun go down. When it got too cold to bear, and that didn't take long since he forgot to bring his cloak, he made his way to the Great Hall, hoping to catch Dobby and wish him a Happy Christmas. The Great Hall was already bustling with activity as the house-elves ran from place to place trying to get everything ready in time for the feast. Harry scanned the place for Dobby and spotted the little house-elf standing on a table and conducting the others. He still wore his silly football pants and Ron's shrunken maroon sweater but at least he got rid of all the little hats Hermione knitted to free the house-elves back in their fourth year. When he saw Harry he gave a happy squawk and toppled backwards in his excitement. When he emerged from under the table he ran to hug Harry's knees.

"Happy Christmas, Dobby is so happy to see Harry Potter." Even after six years of knowing the little elf, Harry still couldn't get Dobby to stop calling him by his full name, but now he didn't really care anymore.

"How are you doing, Dobby?" he asked fondly, "You look busy."

"Oh, this? No, just making sure they are all doing their job. Potchi! I said red napkins! Red!" he screamed at a tiny elf who had big blue eyes who were filling fast with tears now and who was holding a stack of snow white napkins. He bowed to Dobby and ran back to the kitchen with his head down.

"They can be so silly sometimes." Dobby muttered and turned back to Harry "What is master planning for the holidays?" he asked conversationally as if he didn't just make a house-elf cry.

"Not much, hanging around the castle, I suppose." said Harry, who long ago learned not to criticize Dobby's moves or the elf would go mad and start hitting himself.

"That's nice." Dobby said absent-mindedly and then shouted "You bunch of useless idiots! Get back to the kitchens! We still have a lot of work to do." The elves hurried to follow his orders.

"You're obviously busy, I'll come back to see you later, Happy Christmas Dobby." Harry said, and left the Great Hall. Dobby clearly found his place in the kitchens. He still had about half an hour to kill before the feast so he decided to go visit the Ravenclaw tower. When he knocked on their portrait hole Kate opened it and invited him in with a huge smile. Inside the Ravenclaw common room he found Terry, Hannah, Ernie and Seamus. Harry cursed inwardly but it was too late to back up. He sat next to Terry and started to talk to Ernie about studies. He could feel Seamus watching him but he didn't turn his head to face him. He knew he would eventually have to talk to him but he wasn't ready to face him right now, before the feast and all.

When the time came to leave for the Great Hall Harry did his best to walk as far as possible from Seamus, who apparently decided to ignore Harry as well and was deep in conversation with Kate.

The feast itself passed rather smoothly. The food was excellent as usual. The crackers were wonderful, making loud noises and colourful smoke. But Seamus' heart wasn't in it. He played with the food on his plate for a while, stealing glances at Harry, who seemed completely unfazed by the fact they were not talking. Eventually Seamus couldn't bear it anymore, and got up. He muttered an apology to the table and made his way to the big doors. He could feel everyone watching him leave and forced himself to walk calmly. Once outside the hall he broke into a run. When he entered Gryffindor tower he leaned panting against the wall. Bloody castle was huge! He collapsed on a sofa and closed his eyes, trying to regain his breath and thinking of what to say to Harry.

Once Seamus was out of sight all eyes in the Great Hall turned to face Harry. He looked around him and tried to remain calm. Why is everyone looking at me? Is it that obvious he left because of me? He tried to smile and ignore everyone by lowering his eyes to his plate.

"Harry, you should go check what's wrong with him," whispered Hannah on his left.

"Why me? I didn't do anything." he whispered back and immediately regretted it, nothing makes you look more suspicious than denial without accusation.

"Nobody said you did, but he is your friend and you should show some Gryffindor solidarity." she whispered back. He looked up, the entire table, about twenty students and at least half a dozen faculty members were looking at him. He didn't have much choice. Harry got up and tried to project an air of nonchalance to the world as he made his way out of the hall.

He entered the common room and found it empty; he sighed and climbed up to his dormitory. It was also empty. Great! He thought, now I have to go and look for him all over the castle! He went over to his trunk to get the Marauder's map. If he had to look for Seamus he wasn't going to waste his time wondering around the corridors shouting his name! Before he could open the trunk though, there came a soft sound from behind him. Harry turned quickly on the spot, his wand held tight in his hand; and saw Seamus standing at the door. Harry sighed and lowered his wand, suddenly aware of how quick his breathing had become.

"Where the fuck did you pop from? You nearly gave me a heart attack." he snapped, irritated and relieved at the same time.

"I was in the common room, on one of the sofas." explained Seamus. They both looked uncomfortable and avoided each other's eyes. At last Seamus spoke up.

"Harry, I want to talk to you."

"What about?"

"Why the English team sucks at Quidditch." Seamus said sarcastically,

"Well, it's a combination of…" Harry started without thinking,

"About last night, you twit!"

"Oh."

Seamus took a deep breath to calm himself. "I want to apologize."

Harry looked up, surprised, "Apologize for what?"

"I shouldn't have stayed in your bed." Seamus could feel his cheeks heat up and knew he was turning red but he had to say it now or he'd lose his nerve altogether. "I mean, you are with Ginny and that was really stupid of me to… I mean… I'm sorry and it won't happen again." he finished quickly and cursed himself for being such a prat.

"What are you talking about? Ginny and I aren't together." Harry was so confused by this that all he could do was to hold on to the only thing that actually made sense in the sentence. Seamus looked up in surprise.

"What? But you sneak around the castle snogging all the time."

"We do _not_ sneak around the castle snogging!" Harry cried hotly. Is this what people thought they were doing? He's going to have to catch Ginny for a serious talk regarding shooting her mouth about their 'relationship' all over the school. "And besides, you are one to talk, with Parvati and all."

"Parvati isn't my girlfriend. I love her to bits but we are not going out together. She's kind of my cover up, I like boys. She was never really my girlfriend." Bugger! Did I really just say that out loud? Fuck! "Anyway, what I wanted to say was I'm sorry for…" in two steps Harry crossed the distance between them and placed his lips over Seamus', cutting off the rest of the sentence. He heard the three words he wanted to hear "-I. Like. Boys-" and nothing else mattered. Seamus responded to the kiss almost at once, his mouth opened to welcome Harry's tongue. Harry pushed Seamus against the door, not too gently, and deepened the kiss. When they came up for air they smiled at each other.

"You are such an idiot." whispered Harry as he turned to kiss Seamus's neck.

"Me! You're the one who ignored me all day long!" called Seamus indignantly. Harry smiled into his neck and started to pull him towards the bed.

"Wait, Harry." Seamus said but didn't object too much.

"What is it?" murmured Harry while pushing back the robes off Seamus' shoulders.

"I'm scared." blurted Seamus and Harry looked up.

"Scared of what?"

Seamus took a deep breath and tried to smile. "I've never done this before." he explained,

"But, you just said you like boys…" Harry was a bit confused,

"I do, but that doesn't mean I've actually done anything about it… I've never even kissed a guy until a minute ago." Seamus smiled nervously and Harry stepped back.

"Do you trust me?" he asked and looked into Seamus' blue eyes. Seamus nodded and swallowed trying to smile. Harry took his hand and led him to the bed.

They both lay on the bed and Harry began to kiss Seamus' neck softly again. Seamus closed his eyes and gave himself to the feeling of Harry's lips on his skin. Suddenly Harry stopped and rose on his elbows, hovering above Seamus and looking down at him.

"What were you trying to do this morning?" he asked and Seamus opened his eyes.

"I'm not sure. I was half asleep and my hand just kinda took over." Harry laughed and placed his own hand on the gap between Seamus' shirt and trousers.

"Was it something like that?" he whispered as his hand started to slide under the belt and into Seamus' briefs. Seamus closed his eyes again and Harry could feel his breath hitching, and his erection. He grabbed it and started to stroke it, Seamus' head fell back and his breathing became uneven. Harry's hand moved slow and fast, stroking and squeezing in intervals. Seamus was moaning softly, one of his hands grabbed the bed cloth and the other was on Harry's back. His body was arching. Harry looked at Seamus' face, it was the most beautiful thing he ever saw, the way he bit his lip and his face flushed a little. Harry quickened his pace and Seamus came with a soft cry. He was breathing heavy and his body went limp and boneless with pleasure. Harry grabbed his wand and muttered a cleaning spell on them and then turned to watch Seamus. He still had his eyes closed and he looked relaxed and happy. Harry leaned and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

"That was… Great!" Seamus whispered hoarsely and Harry laughed.

"You really haven't done anything yet, have you?" he asked in a half-mock tone. Seamus' cheeks flushed.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Don't worry; I'm not going to tell anyone."

They looked at each other for several seconds and then both started to laugh. They lay facing each other, holding hands and caressing each other's face. They didn't talk, they didn't need to. They were glad things got back to normal, even though both of them knew that from now on things will definitely be different, but different in a good way. They didn't do much more that night. After a while they got up to put their pyjamas on and brushed their teeth. When they came back to the room Harry wrapped his arms around Seamus and guided him towards his bed. They fell asleep almost at once.

**

* * *

****Author's note:** The name of Hagrid's son, Jean-Luc is, of course, after the captain of the starship 'Enterprise'- Jean-Luc Picard. 

My friend Benakin' told me that it's impossible for Hagrid to have a baby at the time of my story, so she gave me an alternative explanation for how he could have one and I really liked it so there it is: While clearing Dumbledore things after his death, Hagrid found the time-turner Hermione returned to Dumbledore in the end of her third year. Hagrid tried to use the time-turner to go back and save Dumbledore but failed. Then, grief-stricken, he turned the knob too many times and ended up a year before at Olympe's and that's when they made the baby. Brilliant, isn't it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Rating:** Slash sex warning!

**Summery:** A gift picture to stir up painful memories and a willing Irishman to get rid of them.

**Bata:** Beankin' and Tamara – I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 2**

Artist - Sting. Title - Mad about you. Album - The soul cages

"Presents!" Harry stirred and woke up at Seamus' call. Seamus was already halfway down to his own bed, heading for the large pile of presents at its foot. Harry smiled and stretched, Christmas day. He got up and went over to his own pile. Seamus was already busy unwrapping presents as cheerfully as a three years old.

"Oooh, Harry, thanks. It's lovely." he called and held up a woolly hat in the colours of red and yellow. Harry laughed as he opened Seamus' gift to find a scarf in the same colours. They both grinned and shrugged. Gryffindors think alike.

Harry quickly opened the rest of his gifts. A pile of sweets from Ron, a book from Hermione, no surprises there. Hagrid had given him a stack of rock cakes that, for a change, did not feel like rocks. Harry suspected they were made by his wife and was rather grateful for that. Mrs. Weasley sent him yet another sweater and a huge fudge filled chocolate cake, his favourite. Fred and George gave him a bag of selected "Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes" goods and Ginny gave him a diary with a picture of a snitch on the cover.

After five years they could sort of laugh about the whole Harry-saving-Ginny-from-Tom-Riddle's-diary thing, but the gift left him feeling a bit uneasy. It was a symbol of Ginny's love and trust in Harry and he still hadn't told her about Terry _or_ Seamus. He put the diary away and cleared the paper wraps to see what presents he missed. At the bottom of the small pile he found a little square package. It looked like a thin book, but he already opened Hermione's present and who will be daft enough to give him a book but her? He curiously tore the wrapping paper and saw it wasn't a book after all, but a picture.

The card attached to it read "Happy Christmas, Harry. I found this while cleaning up and thought you might like it. Have a great holiday. If you need me you know where to find me. Yours, R.J. Lupin."

Harry looked at the picture. It was clearly a wedding photo, _his parents_ wedding photo. James and Lily Potter were standing in the centre of the picture; Lily wore white robes, her flaming red hair falling on her shoulders and her face beaming and smiling, so happy. James stood by her side holding her hand, dressed in dark green dress robes, his messy black hair standing on end and his face shining with pride and love for his bride. To their left stood Sirius and Remus both in black dress robes, as best men and looking so young and happy. Dumbledore was there, looking the same as ever since Harry first met him, his eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles. Hagrid was sitting down on the ground to fit in the picture, his black bushy beard combed and he wore a hideous suit, although not the familiar hairy brown one.

There were other people in the picture Harry didn't know, although two of them looked amazingly familiar- the woman had the same pleasant smile his dad wore and the man had the same messy black hair. They must be my grandparents, thought Harry in amazement. He never saw any of his grandparents. Suddenly a drop fell on the glass surface of the picture. Harry mopped it hastily, wondering where it came from when another followed and he realized he was crying. Seamus looked up from his presents to see Harry's tears. He went over to sit behind him, wrapping his arms around Harry's waist. Harry leaned back against him in silent thanks. Seamus conjured a tissue and Harry smiled between his tears and blew his nose.

"Are those your parents?" he asked in a quiet voice Harry nodded,

"It's a picture from their wedding."

"You know, you look just like your dad, except the eyes, you've got…"

"My mother's eyes, yes, I know." Seamus scanned the picture,

"Hey, that's Dumbledore, and Hagrid… and this guy looks like a young professor Lupin." he pointed,

"It is a young professor Lupin. He was a good friend of my parents. He's the one who gave me the picture." Harry said fondly. Seamus looked at Sirius,

"Who is that? He's smoking hot!" Harry laughed,

"That is my godfather, Sirius Black." He tried to sound casual but the words hardly left his lips. It was still hard for him to say Sirius's name. Seamus cursed inwardly; he knew the story of Harry's convicted murderer of a godfather, Harry had long ago told his friends bits of the story he found fit to tell. He also knew that Sirius was innocent and that he died in the Ministry of Magic raid in the end of their fifth year.

"Is it just me or had Hagrid grown bigger over the years?" Seamus voice was light and happy and Harry was thankful for his subtlety.

"I doubt it, maybe just sidewise." he said and Seamus laughed.

"So, what are we going to do today?" asked Harry in a matter-of-fact voice, although he somewhat ruined the effect by pulling his nose.

"We have a giant pile of sweets, I say we gorge ourselves to death, then go and puke our hearts out and then go fly for a bit." said Seamus happily,

"Sounds like a plan to me."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

That night was again spent in Harry's bed. It was getting more and more familiar and comfortable. Seamus was already sleeping, holding Harry gently, and his warm breath on the back Harry's neck. Harry wasn't asleep; he was watching the picture of his parents wedding which was on the night stand. The figures in the picture were moving and he could see his parents facing each other. Even through the picture it was obvious they were deep in love, he could almost see it forming a bubble of sort around them separating them from the rest. Harry felt his chest tightening and the tears creeping back to his eyes and tore his gaze from his parents.

He looked instead at Lupin and Sirius. They were standing a little apart from the rest. Harry watched as Sirius leaned over to Lupin to whisper something in his ear and then Harry saw it. Sirius was holding Lupin's hand! How could he have missed it before? Lupin's face lit up when he looked at Sirius, who gave him a bright smile in return. Apparently James and Lily were not the only ones in love in the picture. Harry grabbed the picture and sat in the bed. That was so strange. And comforting, in a way, if Sirius and Lupin were queers why can't he?

His movement woke Seamus, he sat up rubbing his eyes and looking over Harry's shoulder "What's the matter?" he asked in a voice thick with sleep.

"Professor Lupin and Sirius were lovers." said Harry in amazement. Seamus muttered something and fell back to bed. Harry smiled and counted under his breath. One, two, three.

"PROFESSOR LUPIN IS _GAY_?" Seamus sat bolt upright and looked at the picture; Harry laughed and pointed at the young Lupin and Sirius holding hands.

Seamus looked puzzled "I thought he was going out with that Tinky girl." he said,

"It's Tonks," answered Harry. "and I think it must be this shared trauma after shock thing or something like that." he waved his hand.

Seamus took another look at the picture "Well, one thing is for sure, professor Lupin has really good taste in men."

He leaned forward planting a soft kiss on Harry's neck, now fully awake and Harry smiled broadly. Lupin did have good taste in men. He knew Sirius was very good looking in his youth but every time he saw pictures it still amazed him just _how good_ he looked, with his black hair falling in his grey eyes and his flirtatious smile. Lupin had told him all the girls in Hogwarts went nuts over Sirius but he didn't want any of them. Now it was obvious why. He turned to kiss Seamus. If Sirius can fall in love with one of his best friends so can he. They fell back to the bed kissing and Harry placed the picture back on his night stand face down. It felt a little weird having his parents watching him, even if it _was_ only through an old picture.

His hands went under the T-shirt Seamus was wearing and lifted it up. He could feel the tension in Seamus' body growing as the anticipation and the fear took over. Harry knew that if he would let Seamus panic they won't get anywhere, and right now that was not an option. Hell, he thought, if I could do it, then so can he! He began to trace his way along Seamus' neck, grazing it with his lips and teeth and drawing immense satisfaction from the fluid movement under the skin as Seamus gulped.

Soon the garments went flying to the floor and Harry now had clear space to work in. His mouth went on Seamus' stomach, moving south all the time, he felt the muscles tense under his lips and smiled to himself. Seamus closed his eyes and took a deep breath, not entirely sure what to expect, and once Harry took him in his mouth he couldn't think of anything else anymore. This was a whole new sensation from yesterday, lips, tongue and teeth instead of fingers and Seamus felt shivers running under his skin like waves. He couldn't control his body more than he could control his mind and he didn't want to. His back arched and his hands went down, his fingers tangled themselves in Harry's hair. Harry's tongue was doing such wonderful things to him; Seamus never knew one could feel that way. He was thrusting forward and came with a last shiver that ran along his spine leaving him limp and shuttering.

When Harry came back up he found Seamus staring at the canopy above the bed, panting. He looked at Harry and smiled

"Wow, Harry that was..." Harry cut him off with a kiss and whispered in his ear,

"It's not over yet." and Seamus swallowed hard. Harry ran his fingers gently on Seamus' torso and was pleased to note how hot the skin was under them. He flipped Seamus to his stomach and started to run his fingers on his back, he traced the spine with his forefinger and Seamus moaned. Harry moved slowly, trying to calm Seamus down, remembering how stressful this experience had been for him, only two weeks previous- it seemed like ages ago now. He moved to place himself above Seamus and nuzzled his neck, Seamus closed his eyes and tried to focus on breathing, which was quite a difficult task at the moment, when he felt Harry's finger slip inside him, and he stopped breathing altogether. He could hear Harry whispering something in his ear but couldn't make out the words, but drew comfort from his voice and forced his body to relax. When the second finger entered him he winced but this time it was almost easier to relax. Then the pressure was lifted and he could breathe again. But when Harry entered him he felt a surge of white hot pain running through his entire body and he couldn't breathe or do anything, his body went rigid and his mind was blocked. Harry felt his panic and tried to calm Seamus down. He started to sing softly in his ear:

"We are the Cannons,

Lean and mean,

Fierce as dragons,

And someday we'll win."

It was a silly little Chudley Cannons song Ron used to sing which made the others make fun of him and his favorite Quidditch team. It took Seamus a couple of seconds to realize what Harry was singing but when he did he couldn't help laughing, his body shaking. The movement broke Harry's concentration and he started to snigger as well and felt Seamus' body relax under him, almost unconsciously. Harry started to move again, he laced his fingers with Seamus' and they both moved together, Harry was kissing Seamus shoulders, gently at first and then more fiercely almost biting him as the momentum of his own movement grew and his excitement was peaking. Seamus' head slumped forward and he let out little moans of pain and pleasure. As Harry climaxed he heard Seamus mutter his name, his Irish accent thickened by his lust, it was so hot, that Harry thought he might come all over again just from hearing Seamus say his name like that.

They both lay exhausted next to each other. Their fingers were still held fast together; when Harry untangled them he realized how tight they were held by the pain of straightening them. Seamus' eyes were still shot and a little smile played on his lips.

"Shey..." Harry whispered, but Seamus held his finger,

"Shhhh, I'm savouring the moment," he said without opening his eyes. Harry looked at him and bit his lip so he won't burst out laughing and ruin the moment. When Seamus finally opened his eyes he saw Harry's face flushed with held laughter and punched him in the shoulder,

"Ouch, that hurt, you big Irish bully!" Harry called before he burst out laughing,

"You bastard." Seamus started to turn his back to Harry, holding his chin up to indicate he was offended; Harry grabbed his shoulder to force him to turn back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." he said and made to stop laughing by leaning forward and kissing Seamus. From the eagerness of Seamus respond to the kiss Harry could tell he was forgiven. When they broke apart, Harry gazed deep into Seamus' eyes, but could see only that soft, lazy after sex pleasure. They lay facing each other and caressing each other faces, softly and lovingly.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Seamus propped himself on his elbow. Harry shrugged. "Oh, come on, Harry. You just did things to me that I never thought were even possible. You must have had someone before me! Who was it?"

Harry didn't look at him and murmured "Terry."

Seamus mouth fell open. "Terry! Head Boy Terry!" Harry nodded "Terry Boot, epitome of all things Ravenclaw- Terry is _gay_? Well, guess that gives a whole new meaning to the term "Head Boy"." he grinned widely

"Oh, Shey, that was a horrible pun."

"So, how was he? Was it puppy love, both groping and trying to make the best of each other?" he was still grinning and Harry suddenly wanted to take that stupid smirk off Seamus' face and some vindictive part of him took over,

"Hardly, he sure knew what he was doing. He fucked me good." As he suspected the grin vanished from Seamus' face and Harry suddenly felt like a jerk. "But it was just sex. It didn't mean anything." he could see the slight frown that passed through Seamus forehead but it disappeared so fast Harry wasn't sure it was even there. He knew that Seamus wasn't the jealous type, no matter how hard he tried. But Harry still felt a bit sleazy and quite hussy though he couldn't really figure out why, he didn't have enough lovers to even qualify for 'curious' let alone go as far as hussy. "He's not into relationships. He shagged half the school already. You could say he's got the school by the balls, literally." He said with a smile.

"Harry, your pun was much worst than mine!" Seamus called out but couldn't help smiling himself,

"No it wasn't. I thought it was really good."

"I bet you did." They looked at each other and grinned again. "So who else would you shag around here?" asked Seamus in business-like tone,

"I don't know... who would you?" shot Harry in return, not especially wanting to answer the question,

"Oh, let's see..." Seamus thought for a moment and Harry rolled his eyes, "I guess I wouldn't throw Justin Finch-Fletchley or Michael Corner out of my bed. I could be persuaded to do Andrew Kirke 'a favor' even though he can't handle a club or a bludger..." he said referring to the abysmal performance of the Gryffindor beater. Harry laughed in spite of himself. This was pure torture but he couldn't stop himself from listening or bring himself to stop Seamus from talking "Let's see who else... Oliver Wood, always a favourite, Malfoy, Zabini... now he's one good loo..." Harry had had enough of this.

"Wait a minute, back up. Malfoy?" Seamus looked at him sheepishly.

"Well, you have to admit he's dead gorgeous." Harry gave it a thought, he closed his eyes and brought up the image of Draco Malfoy- his pale hair and face, slate grey eyes, his sensual lips, the ever lasting smirk and the look of malice his face took every time he looked at Harry or one of his friends, his Death Eater future...

"No." he said finally and opened his eyes. "I wouldn't touch Malfoy with a bloody ten foot poll, he's pure evil!" he said hotly and Seamus smiled at Harry's resolution, he was secretly hoping for a similar reaction but this was better than he thought. "Mind you, you might have had a chance with him." said Harry in an after thought and Seamus looked at him in surprise. "Terry told me they had a 'thing' back in the end of fifth year. Apparently Malfoy was very good with his tongue..." he said without any feeling and Seamus laughed.

"Well, he better be, after all that bloody talking he's done for the past six years."

"What about Terry?" asked Harry,

"No, he's not my type." Seamus said and shook his head. Harry burst out laughing.

"I'll say! Obviously dark hair and glasses does nothing for you." At that Seamus moved to place himself on top of Harry, pinning his wrists to the mattress above his head and looking down at him. After several seconds he pulled up and sat back on Harry's pelvis folding his arms.

"I don't mind dark hair and glasses as long as they come with a set of stunning green eyes and a body to die for..." Harry laughed and reached up to catch Seamus mouth with his. They fell back to bed and lay facing each other once more. Harry lifted his hand and traced his finger along Seamus' jaw line and cheek bone, then leaned forward and kissed him softly

"You were much better than Terry was." he whispered,

"Oh, come off it, Harry. You just said that _he_ shagged half the bloody school; I was a virgin up until you so graciously deflowered me. How can I be better than him?" Harry shrugged,

"I don't know! But I mean it, I guess it's because for him it was only sex."

"As oppose to what we just did, which was, what? An advanced hand job?" Seamus was clearly not following Harry's train of thoughts; unfortunately Harry didn't seem to follow it very well himself. He wasn't sure what made this time so special and so much more exciting for him, but it felt completely different from the time with Terry. It might have been the way Seamus cried out his name or the fact that he could sing Ron's silly song and Seamus instantly took his meaning. Maybe it was the fact they have been friends for so long he actually knew how to calm Seamus down, knew what way to hold him, something Terry didn't know about him and he realized he missed the last time- the knowledge that everything will be alright and that he would not be harmed.

He decided it didn't really matter if Seamus understood him or not. Someday he probably will, besides there was no point fretting over it right now when they are both so happy and relaxed and all he really wanted was to wrap Seamus in his arms and fall asleep smelling him and forget everything else.

He kissed Seamus' temple gently and murmured "Good night." closing his eyes and letting sleep sweep him away.

Seamus looked at Harry's sleeping face, beautiful and soft. He kissed the scar on Harry's forehead and whispered in his ear "Thanks, mate." because he knew Harry was sleeping and couldn't hear him. He closed his eyes and so missed the little smile that crossed Harry's lips.

* * *

A/N: My friend Jul gave me a Gryffidor scarf that her grandmother knitted especially for me... You should have seen the sensation it made in the SiFi/Fantasy con we went to in October... 


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Summery:** A trip to Hogsmede on Christmas day. Scented oils and sweets.

**Bata:** Beankin' and Tamara – I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 3**

Artist – Sting. Title – Mad about you. Album – The soul cages.

When Harry woke up on Boxing Day morning he was smiling. He turned over to look at the sleeping figure by his side. Seamus's face was so innocent and relaxed it was almost as if last night had been a dream. Harry stretched lazily. The seventh years had made plans to go visit Hogsmeade that day, but that wasn't to take place for at least two more hours. He turned over to face Seamus, who was still fast asleep and didn't even budge at Harry's movement.

Harry sighed; it was amazing how deep Seamus could sleep. It used to be a joke in their dormitory that it took a really big explosion to get him to wake up, Ron and Dean even tried to put this theory to practice one day, sending off a Fillibuster firework in the room, but once the smoke cleared they realized Seamus was still sleeping soundly. Today, however, Harry was not about to watch him sleep all day. He leaned over and ran his tongue along the curves of Seamus' ear, gently biting at the lobe. To his immense satisfaction it worked almost instantly as Seamus shivered and stirred and then opened his eyes. When he saw Harry's face he smiled sleepily and leaned over for a good morning kiss, and then turned and prepared to go back to sleep.

Harry shook his shoulder. "Oh, no you don't! Wake _up_!" Seamus turned onto his back and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Harry, we're on bloody holiday! What's the point in being on holiday if you can't even sleep?"

"All you do is sleep! Come on, you are not going to spend the whole day in bed!"

Seamus looked at him; half closed his eyes and bit his lip. "Wanna bet?" Harry couldn't help but smile but he still tried to hold his ground and not be sidetracked by how cute and oh so very sexy Seamus looked at the moment.

"We are going with the others to Hogsmeade," he reminded Seamus.

"Ah. About that… I don't think I can make it to Hogsmeade," said Seamus and looked at Harry with pleading eyes.

"Why not?"

Seamus sighed; Harry could be so thick sometimes "Because, I'm a bit too sore to make it all the way to Hogsmeade. You are every bit of the legend they made you to be…" he smiled at the speed Harry's face went from white to crimson red.

"Shut up!" he murmured and Seamus laughed.

Harry looked at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he began but Seamus cut the rest of his sentence by putting his finger to Harry's lips.

"Don't be daft, Harry. Last night was the most amazing night I ever had, and don't you dare apologize for it! It's just that, I _am_ a bit sore and frankly I don't really feel like going out today so I'm going to use this as an excuse and stay here and do other productive things instead of running around in the bloody snow catching my death."

"You're going to go back to sleep, aren't you?"

"Can you think of a more productive way to spend the day?"

"I could think of a few, but I think I'll go to Hogsmeade with the others or we'll never hear the end of it."

"In that case, I am definitely going back to sleep." declared Seamus and sealed the subject. Harry rolled his eyes, he couldn't argue with that kind of backhand logic. He waited a couple of minutes to see if Seamus might change his mind but when he heard the slow breathing next to him he realized he was alone, so he got up.

- - - - - - - - -

When Harry got to the Great Hall he found it almost empty except for Terry who sat at the big table, reading a book and eating cereals in the same absent minded way Hermione used to eat her meals. He came over to greet Terry with a wide smile.

"My, my, we're looking cheerful this morning. Had a good night? Who did you shag?" Harry shook his head, so much for good old English subtlety.

Terry gave him a calculated look. "It's the Irish boy, isn't it?" Harry's mouth fell open, was it _that _obvious? Terry saw his expression and started to laugh. "Come on Harry, you can't hide things like that from _me_. You look well shagged and happy and since I, regrettably, spent the night alone in my bed I can only assume you and Finnigan made up. It's either this or you hooked up with one of the first years..." Harry almost choked at the pumpkin juice he was just starting to drink.

"Terry, don't say that! Of course it wasn't one of the first years. What do you take me for?" He asked crossly and then flushed when he saw Terry's smile.

"So, are we to expect yet another display of happy love on our trip to Hogsmeade today? Because I'm not sure I'm up for this amount of fluff. Between you two and the Hufflepuff extravaganza I might just have to throw myself in the lake."

Harry laughed. "I don't think you have to worry about that. Seamus isn't coming with us today. He's... not feeling very well," he said, keeping his face carefully blank.

"Harry, you devil!" exclaimed Terry, "I'm so proud of you," he said with mock pride and leaned forward to pinch Harry's fast blushing cheek. "Oh, come on. Don't look so crestfallen, it's not like you maimed him for life or anything, right?" Harry shook his head quickly, not looking up.

"Tell me what you were using." Terry's voice was dry and almost clinical, noting with amusement that Harry went an even deeper shade of crimson. If he's going to continue blushing at this rate he's going to turn purple, thought Terry.

"I don't know what you mean. We didn't do anything." he finally mumbled, his eyes stubbornly fixed on the plate of eggs and bacon the house-elves brought him and he still hadn't touched.

"That was probably your problem," said Terry and began to butter a piece of toast. Harry looked up with puzzlement and Terry continued without looking at him. "What you need is some lubricant. You know, to smooth things over." He raised his brows and Harry's cheeks were tinted with a fresh wave of red. Terry sighed, he had a pretty good idea of what went on in the seventh year boys' dormitory of the Gryffindor tower last night and yet Harry sat in front of him blushing like a bloody maiden.

"Look, Harry, it's very simple, what you need is some scented oil or something like that. You should check out the new store that opened in Hogsmeade, it's called "Miss Estralla's 'All Purpose Potions'", it's right next to Zonko's. I must say I find her store very useful..." Harry smiled in spite of himself. This was probably a very good idea. He began to eat breakfast, realizing for the first time how hungry he felt. Terry went back to his book and they passed fifteen quiet minutes before Kate, Ernie and Hannah walked into the Hall.

At ten o'clock they regrouped in front of the front doors, dressed up for the cold weather, and headed towards the gates of the castle.

"Harry, what's wrong with Seamus? Is he alright?" asked Hannah in a concerned voice.

"Yes, he's fine. He's just a bit tired, might be a touch of flu." said Harry quickly, feeling Terry's smile behind him.

"He did look a little pale at the Christmas feast," she continued. "What happened when you went up there?" Harry opened his mouth but couldn't think of anything to say.

Terry came to his aid "Harry tucked Finnigan to bed, didn't you?" he gave Harry a small wink that Hannah didn't catch and Harry smiled faintly. This conversation was getting rather embarrassing. Hannah noted Harry's embarrassment and though she couldn't really understand it, she decided to change the subject.

"So, what is the plan for today?" she asked the group,

"I need to get to the bookstore," announced Ernie and Terry and Kate said they'll join him. Hannah looked at Harry who flushed a little and said in a small voice,

"I think I'll go to the potion shop, I... I need to find a birthday present for Hermione..." Hannah smiled and declared she would go to the potion store as well and then Terry rubbed his hands and said in a satisfied voice,

"Well, that's settled then. Tell you what, let's meet in an hour at Honeydukes and then go for lunch at 'The Three Broomsticks'. How's that for a plan?" the others nodded and parted ways as he led Ernie and Kate towards the book shop while Harry and Hannah made their way to the store next to Zonko's, which had a big sign above the door reading 'Miss Estralla's 'All Purpose Potions' in big pink glittering letters.

The first thing Harry noticed when they entered the shop was the smell. It was a heavy mixture of every imaginable scent which burdened the lungs and obliterated the senses. Hannah took a deep breath and called happily, "Isn't it great?" Harry smiled feebly, trying hard to keep his breakfast down. He closed his eyes and tried to fight the nausea while breathing in as little as possible. When he finally got control of himself and opened his eyes Hannah was already happily chatting with the saleswitch. Harry scanned the shop. It wasn't a big one, and there was hardly any room to move about as almost every surface was covered with bottles, boxes or candles. He noted the big sign that read 'scented oils' on the far wall and went over there.

The wall was covered from floor to ceiling with rows upon rows of shelves and hundreds of little bottles. All the bottles were round-shaped like small crystal balls and Harry was suddenly reminded of the Hall of Prophecies in the Ministry of Magic. He shook his head to rid himself of the memory, because thinking of the Ministry of Magic meant thinking about Sirius and it was too painful to deal with, especially in the middle of a potion shop. A soft voice by his side caused him to jump up with surprise.

"Do you need any help?" he looked around and saw a young saleswitch looking at him and smiling. Harry didn't really feel like asking for help but when he glanced back at the rows of oils he realized that unless he did he could spend a week in this place without getting anywhere so he nodded shyly.

"Well, what sort of oil are you looking for?"

"It's a present... for a friend." he said and tried his best not to blush.

"I see," said the saleswitch with a sly smile and Harry rolled his eyes mentally at himself for being such an idiot. "What kind of smells do you like?" she asked in a more serious tone and it suddenly dawned on Harry that he never actually gave the matter any thought. He frowned and tried to focus on the subject of smells though it was a bit hard to concentrate with the heavily scented air in the shop.

"I like the smell of the wind when I'm flying." he finally said.

The saleswitch smiled. "A Quidditch player, huh? Well, let's see what we can do…" she scanned the rows of bottles for a while, humming to herself, and then took out one of the bottles and handed it to Harry. He uncorked it and gingerly took a sniff. It was actually a very pleasant smell, a very familiar one too. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting the clean, fresh scent fill his brain; he could see black hair falling, dark chocolate eyes- Parvati. And then he remembered where he smelled that scent before, it was the soap Parvati used. He looked at the little label and saw the words, "In the moonlight – Sandalwood". He looked at the saleswitch, who was eagerly waiting his decision; Harry gave her back the bottle and shook his head. If he was going to use that oil for sex, it might not be the best idea to smell like Parvati...

"Ok, moving on," said the saleswitch briskly and resumed her scan of the bottles, and after a short while produced another. Harry smelled it, it was some fragrant herb he was pretty sure. He closed his eyes again and this time he saw vast fields and summer rain. That was much better. He opened his eyes and smiled, the saleswitch smiled back. Harry glanced at the label "Smashing blue – Lavender". He was beginning to wonder who was in charge of coming up with those names and whether he or she were hexed one too many times as children.

"This is Lavender; it's very good against sores and pains, very soothing."

"Just the thing for you then, Harry," called a cheerful voice and Harry and the saleswitch both turned to see Terry with a big grin on his face. He flung his arm around the saleswitch's shoulder and leaned to kiss her cheek. "Hello, Jenny." The saleswitch gave him a dazzling smile.

"I think we can do a bit better than Lavender, you need something sexier." called Terry and he and Jenny turned back to the shelves and scanned them again, while Harry stood forgotten with a bottle of Lavender oil in his hand. After about five minutes of fierce arguments Terry and Jenny seemed to reach a decision and turned to face Harry. Terry handed him a bottle and Harry took a sniff- it was sweet and spicy at the same time, soft and demanding, light and heavy. It was perfect. He smiled and looked at the label which bore the name "Spicy marmalade – Spices mixture", that was a bit of a disappointment but he figured it didn't really matter, he probably didn't even know half the spices anyway. Terry looked very pleased with himself.

"Well, I think we found just the thing!" He took both bottles from Harry and made his way to the counter, Harry and Jenny following him. Jenny slipped behind the counter and took the bottles, putting them in a small bag, and said,

"That would be sixteen sickles." Before Harry could reach his purse, Terry laid a hand on his arm.

"This one's on me. Consider it a Christmas present for you and... Your special someone," he said, and Harry felt himself blushing again.

When they stepped outside the shop, Harry took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the crisp cold air, marveling at the lack of smell from the snow. He felt his head clearing and his lungs tingling.

Terry laughed. "Yes, the smell in there could kill a hippogriff..." After a minute or two Hannah joined them and they headed for Honeydukes. They were soon joined by Kate and Ernie, and Harry passed a happy hour choosing all his favorite sweets. His bag was fast filling with Chocoballs, Fizzing Whizbees, Bertie Bott's Every flavoured Beans and of course, the inevitable chocolate frogs. Harry's collection of chocolate frog cards was almost as big as Ron's by now. There was a momentary hesitation in front of the liquorice wands, personally Harry found them rather disgusting, and aniseed smell always reminded him of Aunt Marge, but he knew that Seamus really liked those for some reason. In the end he decided to get Seamus some to make him happy and then force him to eat them far, far away from him.

After they left Honeydukes laden with bags of sweets they made their way to 'The three broomsticks', where they were greeted warmly by Madame Rosmerta.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

When Harry entered the Gryffindor tower he found Seamus perched on one of the sofas, reading a book in front of the fire. Harry went over to sit next to him and greet him with a kiss.

"How was your day, honey?" asked Seamus with a grin and Harry smiled. Only two days have passed since they first kissed and already it seemed like they've been together for years. It was nice, and comfortable, thought Harry. They didn't really need to go through all the ordeal of getting to know each other as people, as they've been practically living together for the last seven years. He produced the bags he got from Hogsmeade. Seamus scanned the contents of the Honeydukes bag and noted with glee,

"Harry, you got me liquorice wands... but you hate those." Harry shrugged.

"I don't mind, as long as you don't come within a mile of me after you eat them!" Seamus laughed. He spotted the smaller bag from the potion shop and looked curiously at Harry.

"It's a gift for us..."

"Really! For both of us? Who from?"

Harry looked at his hands and said very quietly, "Terry." To his surprise, Seamus started to laugh. Harry looked up and waited for Seamus to calm down, it took surprisingly long, as Seamus seemed to find the idea hilarious for some reason.

"What's so funny?" he asked, because _he_ was feeling rather embarrassed by the whole thing and couldn't figure out what Seamus found so funny.

"You told him!" called Seamus and Harry flushed.

"I didn't tell him, he sort of found out on his own."

"I bet it was him who convinced you to buy this." Harry shrugged. "Well then, I guess we better put those scented oils to good use," said Seamus with a smile and leaned forward to kiss Harry.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Seamus,

"Very refreshed, I had a good sleep and then a very late breakfast. They were actually serving lunch in the Great Hall but I got the house elves to make me some eggs. Your little friend Dobby seems very fond of me; he kept shooting me 'well done' looks. Did you tell him as well or did he "find out"?" Harry gaped at him and Seamus laughed again. "Don't worry, I don't think he knows... mind you, he looks like the kind of creature that would faint if he ever came across something more graphic than a peck on the cheek." Harry nodded in agreement, Dobby probably _would_ faint if he ever saw Harry snogging someone, and Harry really didn't want to think of the option of Dobby seeing him doing anything more than that.

Seamus was examining the bottles of oil, smelling them, and from his facial expression Harry gathered he was approving. The portrait hole opened and the group of first years entered the common room looking rather flushed and wet from playing in the snow. Seamus hastily hid the bottles back in their bag and stuffed it behind his back. He tried to hide his smile and asked in the most casual tone he could muster, "What are you planning for this afternoon?"

"I'm not sure. I thought I might drop by to say hello to Professor Lupin. Thank him for the picture."

"That's a great idea, you should go," Seamus said enthusiastically and Harry looked suspiciously at him.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No! Of course not! Well... yes... I want to finish my book..." Harry laughed. "But I promise I'll make it up to you tonight," Seamus leaned to whisper in his ear and Harry shot a quick glance around the room to see no one was looking before he gave Seamus a quick kiss.

"I'll see you later then," he said and got up.

He turned before the portrait hole and looked back at Seamus, already absorbed in his book, absent-mindedly nibbling one of the liquorice wands. Harry smiled and stepped out.

* * *

**Author's note:** All the names of the scented oils are actually names of songs from the anime of 'Gravitation', l swear I didn't make any of them up.

Acording to J.K.R. Hermione's birthday is in September.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Rating:** Slash sex warning!

**Summery:** A chat with Lupin, rest of the Holidays and New year's eve.

**Bata:** Beankin' and Tamara – I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 4**

Artist – Sting. Title – Mad about you. Album – The soul cages.

Harry made his way through the corridors humming the Cannons song and smiling to himself. He suspected he looked rather silly to others, but since there were no others to speak of, he couldn't care less. When he got to Professor Lupin's door he hesitated for a second. What if Professor Lupin was still feeling under the weather after the transformation? Would it be wise to remind him of painful subjects like his parents and Sirius? Before he could make up his mind he heard a cheerful voice behind him.

"Harry! What brings you here?" Harry turned to see Professor Lupin holding a stack of rolled up parchments in his hands. Lupin looked down at his hands and smiled. "I've just been to see the headmistress and she gave me a paper or two to correct," he said in an almost desperate voice, and Harry smiled. "But, that will have to wait. I'm dying for a cup of tea and some biscuits, can I tempt you?" Harry's smile broadened, he nodded, and they entered the room.

Harry sat in front of Lupin's desk, watching the steam rising from his cup and trying to figure out what was the best way to start the conversation, when Lupin said, "I take it you got my present." Harry looked up at him and nodded. "Did you like it?" Harry nodded even more vigorously and Lupin smiled. "I thought you might," he said, and his smile faded a bit, but Harry didn't see it.

"Professor, can I ask you something?" Lupin nodded and Harry took a deep breath and plunged in. "Were you and Sirius lovers?" he was expecting denial or at least some measure of shock but Lupin actually began to laugh,

"Boy, you sure cut to the chase," he said. "You got that from Lily, no doubt. When James tried to ask that question, it took him ten minutes to fumble with the words and then he ended up talking about Quidditch." Harry smiled; he cherished those little anecdotes about his parents. He looked at Lupin with anticipation and Lupin grinned "I see that I'd better give you the whole story, or I'll never hear the end of it." He got up and walked to the window, holding his tea cup and gazing outside.

"It all started back in the seventh year. Well, I guess the signs were there for anyone to read a long time before, but none of us knew and nothing really happened until Christmas of our last year. Seventh year was the year everything changed. Lily finally caved in and agreed to date James, Peter found himself in a position of a semi- sex god to the Hogwarts girls. All of a sudden everyone went nuts over blonde hair and blue eyes. Sirius and I were left alone. Sirius was especially angry about the turn things took, and claimed that he and I were the only true Marauders, not budging from the cause of raising hell in Hogwarts.

"That Christmas was marked with the fact that Lily accepted James' invitation to come spend the holidays at the Potter's and Sirius decided to be the 'big man' as he put it and give them time to themselves. As a result we were the only ones left in our dorm. This was a pretty remarkable holiday." Lupin smiled fondly at the memories. "The first night we sat on my bed and talked for hours. Future plans, past regrets, life in general. I believe it was the most profound conversation Sirius ever had till that day.

"The next morning we woke up in each other's arms. Things never went back to be the same after that. When the holidays were over and everyone came back, James and Peter didn't notice anything, but Lily did. Your mother was a very keen and shrewd girl and saw much that was not spoken. She noted the way Sirius and I looked at each other. How we always found excuses to touch each other. The fact we sometimes disappeared for a while without explanation.

"Neither of us actually planned intended to use the Marauders' map to find places to go snogging but we put it to good use at the time. Anyway..." he said hurriedly, his cheeks actually flushed red, avoiding Harry's eyes and missing the smile that crossed Harry's face. "Like I said Lily had a shrewd idea of what went on, while James was completely oblivious. The worst part was that he got into his head that both Sirius and I were in dire need of girlfriends. It was part guilt for having one himself but mostly it was his brilliant solution to Sirius's ranting about the decreasing moral standards of the Marauders. Needless to say, we weren't too keen about his attempts to match us up with random girls. Especially since most of his suggestions were rather horrible, like Bertha Jorkins…" Lupin shuddered at the very thought, but Harry was rather amused. He didn't know Bertha in person, of course, but he did see her once in Professor Dumbledore's pensieve, and he remembered what Sirius had said about her. He sniggered and shook his head. Lupin turned to look at him quizzically, and Harry explained,

"Bugger, that's like Ron trying to fix me up with Luna Lovegood." They both sniggered and Harry leaned forward and asked shyly for Lupin to continue. Lupin smiled and returned to gazing out of the window, letting the memories engulf him once more.

"In the end Lily decided to take matters into her own hands and tried to ease James into the idea that maybe Sirius and I didn't really need help in the romantic department. It took James about two weeks to grasp the idea himself and two more to summon the courage to face us. And even then he couldn't do it and Lily had to ask us in his stead.

"At first James was livid. He saw the whole idea as a personal betrayal. As if Sirius and I planed the whole thing behind his back. We tried to explain that things just happened and it was no one's fault but he wouldn't listen. He actually stopped talking to us altogether and for about three weeks he ignored us. It was the first and only time in the history of the Marauders that we didn't talk to each other. Peter found out shortly after James, but seemed rather amused by the idea. It took the combined efforts of Lily and Peter to persuade James at least to sit with us and listen. In the end it was Lily's threat of leaving James that did the trick. But James only forgave us after a private conversation with Sirius. I don't know what was said there, as both James and Sirius refused to talk about it. But he forgave us, and that was the important thing.

"It was still hard for him to watch us together as he knew what was going on and saw our behaviour in a different light. When your parents got married, James appointed both Sirius and me as best men. It was his way of saying he accepted us." Lupin turned to face Harry, who sat quietly looking at his hands, his tea completely forgotten. He came over to sit behind his desk and said kindly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you or open old wounds." Harry looked up and smiled sadly.

"No. I'm really glad that you told me that. I like to hear stories about my parents… and the marauders…" he added. His face took on a rather interesting colour and he refused to meet Lupin's eye. Lupin smiled and narrowed his eyes, gazing curiously at Harry, or rather at Harry's reactions.

"I have a feeling this might be a bit more familiar to you than you let on. Am I right?" Harry lifted his eyes in surprise and Lupin laughed. "I'm guessing it isn't Ron or Hermione you fell in love with, because that would be the talk of the school…" Harry tried to hide his smile and shook his head.

"It's not Ron or Hermione... that would be too weird." He took a deep breath and continued in a small voice, "It's Seamus." Lupin smiled and leaned forward, trying to catch Harry's eye.

"And how do you feel about it?" he asked kindly. Harry sighed.

"I don't know. I just know that I never felt like that before." Lupin nodded knowingly.

"It's like someone had drawn the shade from over your eyes, making you see things differently. Making you see people you thought you knew in a whole new light." Harry nodded in agreement - Lupin managed to capture his feelings in a nutshell. He was really glad he came over to talk to Professor Lupin, it made him feel more confident, made things easier.

- - - - - - - - - - -

The rest of the holiday was well spent, in the boys' opinion. They even managed to squeeze in some study time, between the snow trips, common room games and of course the very busy bedtime activities. They spent New Year's Eve in the "Three Broomsticks" with Terry, Kate, Hannah and Ernie, drinking butterbeer and mead and raising their glasses in toasts which became more creative and more ridiculous as the evening progressed. When they came back staggering to the castle, none too steady on their feet, they parted ways rather loudly in the entrance hall and caused Filch to give them an hour's detention each, which they didn't really care about in their drunken state. Once in the Gryffindor tower Harry could finally give Seamus the Happy New Year kiss he couldn't give him in front of everyone, at the stroke of midnight.

The next day they all applied at Madame Pomfrey's office for some hangover potion, which she supplied with a sour face and endless ranting about the irresponsibility of the students these days, followed by dark premonitions that they were all headed straight for rehab from Hogwarts. After leaving the hospital wing they all went to the library. There was so much to catch up with, it being the N.E.W.T.'s year and all.

- -

Harry glanced tiredly at his watch; it was already eight in the evening. Fuck, he thought, we've been here for almost ten bloody hours. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. Terry and Kate were sitting across from him, each absorbed in his essay- typical Ravenclaw behaviour… Ernie was consulting a book for his notes, humming happily to himself, and Hannah was snoozing peacefully, her head rested on a big book. Seamus was nowhere to be seen; Harry found it strange, as he couldn't remember him leaving the library. He stretched and felt his muscles groan in protest. This was definitely the sign to leave! He slammed his book shut, causing Hannah to jump up and blink around like an old owl.

"I'm off to bed," he announced in a tired voice. The others simply looked at him and shrugged, returning to their business without a word, but Hannah took the opportunity to join Harry and leave the library. At the library door they said good night and parted ways, each heading towards their common room.

On the way to Gryffindor tower Harry thought of a few well chosen, very venomous phrases to give Seamus for leaving him in the library like that. When he entered their room, however, they popped right out of his head.

The place was decorated with dozens of floating candles, just like the Great Hall used to be, casting a soft light on the room. Seamus must have used a warming charm because the air felt like they were in the middle of June rather than the beginning of January. The floor was covered with a big red carpet or blanket and on it was a stack of sweets. Seamus was wearing only boxer shorts and perched on a pillow reading a book. When he heard the door open he jumped up.

"Bollocks! I wanted to surprise you! But it took you so long, I got bored so I started to read." Harry laughed.

"It's still quite a surprise. I was about to give you a piece of my mind for ditching me back there. What's the occasion?" he indicated the chocolate. Seamus carefully marked his place in the book and got up. He came to stand in front of Harry, taking his hand and easing him down on the big pillow, placing himself on top.

"No occasion, only that it's the last night we have for ourselves before the rest of the school comes back," he pulled Harry into a passionate kiss. As the kiss deepened Harry absently-minded reached over and his fingers closed around a chocoball. When they came up for air he brought the candy to his lips and took a bite at it and then pulled Seamus back for another kiss. Seamus could taste chocolate and strawberries and Harry and soon their kiss turned to much more. By the time they managed to get their clothes off they were both covered in chocolate and strawberry filling but they didn't even stop to think about it. Seamus licked the chocolate off Harry's fingers in slow sucking motions, his eyes half closed and his tongue wrapped sensually around each finger in turn. Harry dropped his head back, giving in to the amazing feeling the finger sucking induced, he never realized how turned on you can get by a simple action like that. The fingers of his free hand rose to tangle themselves in Seamus' hair as he moved to wrap his legs around Seamus waist; he wanted to feel Seamus inside him, hot and close. Seamus moved slowly, his fingers and tongue making their way down Harry's body, tracing patterns in the chocolate on his chest and stomach. Harry gulped and tried to catch Seamus' hands and make him move faster and _do_ something but Seamus grabbed his wrists and pinned them above Harry's head.

"Patience, my love," he drawled in Harry's ear, and Harry felt his skin tingling. Seamus resumed his pattern-making over Harry's chest, his hands moving down, taking Harry's wrists with him until they were placed level with his shoulders. Harry untangled his legs and spread them apart and Seamus slid into him. Harry's breath hitched in his chest. Even after two weeks in which they've had sex every night it was still so fucking hot, just like the first time Seamus did it. Seamus hovered above him, his hands pushing Harry's wrists into the floor with force but Harry didn't even feel it, he was arching back to let Seamus thrust even further into him and gave himself completely to the feeling. His moans were coming like gasps and his breathing was shallow. Seamus was holding him tight in place, moving above him and inside him, muttering words in Gaelic that Harry didn't understand but it was all so hot, so perfect, sending them both over the edge.

They lay together panting, sweating and still covered with chocolate, their limbs tangled together. Harry's wrists bore red finger marks and his bones were aching but he knew he would do it again in a heartbeat. Seamus' head was resting on Harry's chest and his fingers were still moving over Harry's stomach.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Harry looked down at the top of Seamus' head, his blonde hair thick with chocolate.

"Well, we can't really use the dorms anymore... " He looked up, an almost desperate look in his eyes. Harry laughed and pulled him up to catch his mouth in a slow kiss.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's a big castle. I'm sure we could find a place to have – how did you put it? An advanced hand job?" Seamus snickered and settled himself comfortably against Harry's shoulder. "Hey, we could use the Room of Requirement. Nobody's using it now that the DA no longer exists. It would be much better than the dorms since we can decorate it any way we want, have a giant bed and all that." The possibilities were endless, this was going to be so great!

"Wicked," mumbled Seamus sleepily. Harry smiled and looked up and then thought of something.

"Hmm, Shey? We better put out all these candles before we burn down the castle." Seamus looked up and sighed.

"You're right. McGonagall is going to have a fit if we burn the place to the ground, not to mention Filch would just throw us in the dungeon and hang us by our thumbs!" He reached up, pulled his wand from behind the pillow and extinguished the candles, plunging the room into darkness.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next morning they woke up on the floor, still covered in chocolate. Only, this morning, as oppose to last night, it wasn't very hot and sexy, only really messy. They got up and went over to the showers; under the hot water and the soap and shampoo the chocolate melted away and they stepped out clean and fresh. Back in the dorms they cleared away the rest of the sweets and got rid of the candles and blanket. When the dorms were returned to their normal, de-sexed state they went down to the common room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Summery:** Holidays are over. Time to face the crowd again.

**Bata:** Beankin' and Tamara – I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 5**

Artist – Sting. Title – Mad about you. Album – The soul cages.

It was the last day of the holidays. People were going to come back throughout the day and for the first time Harry was a bit disappointed. After two weeks of what was like a dream to him, it was time to face reality again. He and Seamus spent the day in the common room playing wizard chess. This was an entirely different experience than playing with Ron, thought Harry. When Ron was playing chess his face was set with utmost concentration and he let nothing distract him from the board. Seamus, on the other hand, was playing with his pawns, making them dance around the board, arguing with them where they should go. Harry found it highly amusing until Seamus' queen tried to stab Seamus with her sword. He gave her a most offended look, but she didn't seem moved by it, which made Harry laugh even harder.

Eventually they switched to playing exploding snap because Seamus declared he could not carry on playing with such a treacherous queen.

"Are you waiting for Ron or for Ginny?" asked Seamus when Harry kept shooting glances over the portrait hole. Harry looked at him in surprise and Seamus smiled at him. He sighed.

"Are you going to tell Nora?" he shot back in defence. The smile on Seamus face vanished and he shook his head.

"Nope."

"Why not?" Harry asked curiously.

"She's too young. She doesn't need to know about these things."

"She's your sister. Don't you think she has a right to know?" Seamus looked appalled by the very notion.

"She's twelve years old!" he called out. "And besides," he added, "she won't understand."

"She's a smart kid, she's a Ravenclaw after all... I really think you should tell her."

"I don't! Look, leave Nora to me, alright?" Seamus said trying not to sound impatient. Harry couldn't possibly understand what's it like to have a sister or to be catholic for that matter and he really didn't want to pick a fight with him over that subject. "So, _are_ you going to tell Ginny? Or Ron, for that matter?"

"I guess, someday…" Harry answered with a shrug.

"Tell you what, I'll make a deal with you!" Seamus said and Harry looked at him curiously. "I'll tell Parvati if you tell Ginny."

"I thought Parvati already knew." Somehow it felt like he got the raw end of the deal.

"She doesn't know about you and me…" Seamus pointed out.

"Still, she's not going to fall off the chair or hex you or anything."

"You're scared Ginny will hex you?" Seamus couldn't hold his laughter,

"Wouldn't you?"

Seamus gave it a thought. "You've got a point… But you still have to tell her before she finds out somewhere else and then you'll really be in deep shite!"

"I know… Between her and Ron, I'm not sure who would take it worse…" said Harry miserably.

"I'd go for Ginny first; girls are more open to the idea of two men together for some reason. Hey, if you're lucky she might find the whole thing really sexy."

Harry sighed. "I don't want her to find it sexy, I just don't want to hurt her too much."

Seamus decided to drop the subject and instead concentrated on the game. They played a few more rounds, when the first people started to arrive. They were mostly younger students, and Harry and Seamus ignored them. The first seventh year to arrive was Parvati. She came over to where Harry and Seamus were sitting with a dazzling smile. She leaned and gave Seamus a big kiss on his cheek and he gave her one in return.

"Hello boys! So, how was your holiday?"

"Great, Harry and I spent most of it shagging up in the dorms." Seamus informed her with a huge smile.

Harry stared at him in disbelief but Parvati didn't look shocked in the least. She simply gathered the snap cards and started to shuffle them, saying, "About time too. Anything else?" she looked up, caught the sight of Harry's face and smiled. "Don't be so shocked Potter; it's not like I didn't have a clue. Unlike some other Gryffindors I know…" she added dryly, lifting her eyebrows at him.

"But we weren't doing anything until two weeks ago." protested Harry in disbelief.

"Yeah, but your dear 'boyfriend' here had a crush on you for ages." Harry turned to look at Seamus who shrugged and looked slightly flushed. Harry smiled and shook his head.

They were in the middle of the second round of snap, trying to avoid Parvati's quite intrusive questions about their holidays when the portrait hole opened and Ginny stepped in, chatting with Neville and Dean.

"Hello everyone," she called brightly as they reached the corner Harry, Seamus and Parvati were sitting in. they exchanged their hellos and "how was your holiday?" pleasantries, and Harry was beginning to feel uneasy again. The mere notion of being in the same room as Ginny was making him feel uncomfortable and guilty. He lowered his head and toyed with the playing cards in his hand when he felt a sharp kick in the shin.

Harry tried to stifle a cry of pain and looked up; both Seamus and Parvati were looking at him, signalling towards Ginny with their heads. If he wasn't so preoccupied with feeling like an idiot he would have found them very comical. He sighed and looked at Ginny, who was talking to Dean.

"Where's Ron?" asked Neville before Harry could say a word.

"Doing his Prefect rounds with Hermione. That is, trying to steal a snog at some remote corner," answered Ginny and everyone laughed. Harry decided to take advantage of the light atmosphere and plunged in.

"Can I have a private word with you?" he asked her. Her face lit up and she nodded. They both got up and went through the portrait hole.

Harry had no clear idea what he was going to say or how to even start tackling the subject. He was trying to think about it while wondering quite aimlessly through the corridors. Ginny walked next to him in silence, a curious look on her face.

Harry raised his head and realized they were heading towards the astronomy tower, definitely _not _a good place to go! Instead he ducked to a nearby classroom pulling Ginny behind him and closing the door.

This is interesting, thought Ginny; Harry obviously had something rather important to say. Judging from the look on his face he was either about to tell her he hated her, or ask her to move up to the next level of their relationship. It was a bit hard to tell as he kept his head low and his face was half hidden. He leaned against a desk while Ginny leaned against the wall. She was rather amused, she wasn't sure why but she felt this was going to be a lot harder for Harry than for her.

Harry seemed to finally reach a decision as he lifted his head and took a deep breath.

"Ginny, you know how everyone thinks that we're dating…" Oh, bad, bad start! Ginny gave him a glance from under her long, golden lashes, her lips slightly parted. Oh, yes, defiantly a bad start. He took another breath, trying to focus himself, when she said softly,

"It's ok Harry, you can tell me anything."

"I'm gay." he blurted. Very subtle, you idiot, he cursed inwardly, his hand flying up to shut his own traitorous mouth. There must be a better way to handle this without having to blurt out stupid sentences he hadn't planed on saying at all. He wasn't really sure what to expect from Ginny, tears (Oh dear gods, please no), anger (his fingers were already curling around his wand), mad laughter (slightly better than tears but not by much). Actually, thought Harry, anything was probably better than Ginny crying out "I knew it!" her eyes wide and her finger pointing at him.

"What?" cried Harry indignantly; it always seemed as if the whole sodding school knew everything about him before he did.

Ginny caught herself and quickly changed her expression to one of shock. "I mean… Oh!" She opened her blue eyes wide.

"Ginny, what the fuck? What do you mean you knew it?" Ginny smiled a little uneasily. This was probably not the way this conversation was supposed to proceed, but then again if she had waited for Harry to get to the point it probably would have taken all night.

"Well, how could I not notice?" She asked defensively as if it were obvious, but when Harry still gave her a blank look she sighed and tried to clear things up.

"Well, you know how everyone thinks that we're dating?" Hmm, that sounds uncomfortably familiar… "The thing is, I knew from the start you weren't particularly attracted to me, don't try to deny it, it's ok, it's not your fault - I suppose. At first I thought it was because of Ron, you know the whole "dating my best friend's sister" routine, but then I thought it was me. I thought you might have the hots for someone else, so I started watching you."

"You followed me?" Harry almost yelled in disbelief,

"I didn't follow you, I watched you. There's a distinct difference between the two," said Ginny firmly. Harry recognized the dangerous gleam in her eye and decided not to interrupt her anymore.

"You don't know what it's like to grow up in a world that has you as its hero. Ever since I remember myself I worshiped you. I never thought I'd meet you, but I had fantasies about us getting married and all. Oh, come off it, don't give me that look, you know that half the girls at school were having these thoughts at some point or another! Anyway, the last thing I expected is for you to become my brother's best friend, not to mention the seventh son of my mother…

"And the worst part was - you turned out to be so much better than I ever dreamed, nobler, braver, and much more handsome. And then we sort of started dating and I was so happy, but then I realized, this was a fantasy too. So I started watching you to see if you had another girl or something but what I found out wasn't that you had another girl, it was that you couldn't care less about other girls.

"At first I was thrilled, it was obviously a good sign for me, but I was totally blind. It took me a while to see beyond my own pride and realize you don't want _other_ girls, you don't want _girls_ at all! From what I could tell, there wasn't a specific guy you wanted either but you definitely wanted _them…_" she trailed off somewhat sadly and Harry couldn't stop himself from asking,

"How did you know?"

Ginny smiled. "Hermione must have told you already that she can read you like an open book, right?" Harry nodded. Hermione's actual words were "read you like the Marauders' map" but she only used it among the trio. Ginny smiled again. "She's right, you know… Don't worry! It's not like the whole school knows. It's just that whenever you look at a guy you fancy your eyes light up in a really cute way. You never looked at me like that. Guess that's why I finally gave up on making you fall madly in love with me."

Harry bit his lip; he had no idea, of course, that he was doing any of this. But then, Hermione also used to say that he and Ron wouldn't know a Blast Ended Skrewt if it came and bit them in the arse. The fact that they actually had to learn how to handle those beasts back in fourth year merely emphasized her point. He got up from the desk and went over to where Ginny was standing. He put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him a little and then pulled back and leaned against the wall again. Harry did the same; he couldn't shake the guilt off, or the feeling that he was a real idiot.

"I'm so sorry, Ginny; you have every right to be mad at me. I never meant to hurt you…" he couldn't think of a better thing to say, and this too came out lame. Ginny looked at him with her big blue eyes open wide.

"I'm not mad at you. It's not your fault. I'm a little disappointed, yes. But I'm not mad." She smiled brightly and leaned closer. "So, who is it?" Harry blinked at her in surprise. He could never get used to the amazing speed women changed their minds. He shrugged and her smile widened.

"What do you mean? Who said there is someone?" He tried to sound confident and not betray the fact she caught him completely off guard.

"Because you wouldn't even bother to tell me if there wasn't someone and you felt guilty over cheating on either one of us," she said simply and he just looked at her, speechless. Ginny gave him yet another dazzling smile.

"Hmmm, let's see. It's probably someone who stayed behind in the holidays because I'm pretty sure there wasn't anyone before. Not one that mattered anyway…" she added. Harry felt himself flushing and cursed inwardly. Damn, he _was_ too bloody predictable. Ginny, however didn't notice his face as she mentally went over the list of people left behind for the holidays.

"Well, I guess we can rule out anyone under the age of sixteen. _Right?"_ Harry nodded hurriedly. "Ok, that leaves us with… three people. Ernie, Terry and Seamus." She gave Harry a calculated look while he tried his best at looking blank and impassive (and failing horribly), and then she declared with glee, "Oh my god, you and Seamus! That's wonderful, weird, but really cool." Harry frowned at her.

"Why is it weird?"

"You've been his friend for six years now, when and why did things change?"

"The day before Christmas. I had a nightmere," he said and smiled to himself. Then he remembered he was talking to Ginny and that he was most definitely _not_ going to discuss his holiday's activities with her! "How do you know it was Seamus and not one of the others?" he asked instead, trying to shift the conversation away from dangerous water.

"Simple, the reason Ernie stayed behind was that he could spend time with Hannah. And Terry's going out with Kate, so that only leaves Seamus," she declared and Harry tried to hide his smile. If only she knew…

"Seamus is going out with Parvati," he pointed out but she gave a dismissive snort.

"Oh, please. Everyone knows they are only "dating" to cover up for the fact that they are both gay."

"I didn't know that."

"What a shock." Ginny rolled her eyes and smiled. Harry couldn't help but smile too. "So, how is he?" she asked in a brisk voice.

"You just saw him. He's fine."

"Very funny, Harry! You know what I mean."

"I'm not telling you that!" Ginny looked at him with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Oh, come on. You have to tell me! I have a right to know!"

"No you don't," he said, and she pulled a face at him.

"Come on… tell me anyway…" Harry sighed. He wasn't going to win this argument.

"What do you want to know?" he asked tiredly.

"What's he like in bed?"

"Amazing."

"Can you be more specific?"

"No."

Ginny sighed. "Boy, Harry, you sure know how to take all the fun out of this."

"I just don't see why you care so much."

"I guess you can call it 'curiosity of the unknowing'."

"Ginny, you can have any guy in school you want to have sex with… I bet half of them would be happy to oblige."

"You mean the ones that don't secretly wish to be shagged by _you_! Don't be daft, I meant I could never have a guy on guy sex! Why do you think girls are so keen about gays? And why do you think guys are so keen on two girls together?"

"I was never too keen on two girls together…"

"That's because you're gay. You're weird that way. You have this profound fear of women or something." Harry chuckled. "Anyway, I'm glad you ended up with someone nice like Seamus and not some creep from Slytherin, for example." She winked at him and then leaned over to kiss his cheek.

They didn't say anything for a while and Harry was wondering whether they should head back to the tower when they heard voices behind the door. One was clearly Ron's. Harry glanced over at Ginny and saw a wicked glint flash in her eyes.

"Let's give Ron something to fret about," she whispered, and before Harry could say anything, she grabbed him and kissed him. The door opened and Ron stepped inside; when he saw Harry and Ginny in a lip lock he gave a startled yelp. Ginny released Harry and gave her brother a sheepish look, while Harry was genuinely alarmed and shocked. Behind Ron he could see Terry's face, a slight frown crossing his forehead and a little smile on his lips.

"Ginny! Harry! What's going on here?" Ron was practically shaking with anger, his face turning an ugly shade of puce. Ginny looked down, the perfect picture of guilt. Harry had to hold himself from rolling his eyes. She grabbed his hand and made a dash for the door, her face still down. Harry knew that to Ron and Terry it looked like she was on the verge of tears but he knew she was about to crack with laughter. When he passed Terry, the Head Boy nodded at him with a smile that said "You little devil". Harry didn't have time to correct him before Ginny forced him around the corner. Once they were out of earshot, Ginny collapsed against the wall, holding her sides, peels of laughter echoing in the corridor.

"Ginny that was evil!" Harry tried to sound angry but the thought of Ron's face was too much for him and he couldn't hide his grin.

"I'm sorry… It was too good an opportunity to miss, oh my, the look on his face… that was _priceless,_" she said once she calmed down a bit. "Hey, in a way I was doing you a favour."

"How is that exactly?"

"Well, nothing can be worst than your best friend dating your sister, right? So he will be so pleased when you tell him you're not going out with me, he wouldn't care who you _are_ going out with."

Harry thought about it. It didn't seem very likely, but then again it was Ron and most likely things didn't apply to him. They made the rest of the way to the Gryffindor tower in silence.

When they entered the common room it was almost empty. Ginny gave Harry a little kiss on the cheek and waltzed to the girls' dormitory looking very pleased with herself. Harry went over to the sofa where Seamus was sitting, eagerly waiting for news.

"I see that went well." He gestured after Ginny.

Before Harry could answer, the portrait hole opened and Ron stepped in. when he saw Harry he turned his head pointedly and went up the stairs before Harry could stop him or apologize. Harry sighed in frustration and slumped down on the sofa next to Seamus. In answer to his questioning look, Harry told him about the talk with Ginny and the fiasco with Ron. Needless to say, Seamus found the whole thing hilarious.

He pulled Harry to him and placed his head in his lap, stroking the soft locks of black hair. Harry closed his eyes and gave in to the lovely feeling.

"Ginny has a point, you know," said Seamus quietly.

"About Ron being less mad when he finds out I'm not dating Ginny?"

"Yes."

"Great! I'll get in a fight with him just to prove to him I'm not going out with his sister."

"You still should tell him. Imagine he'll find out somewhere else."

"Where, exactly, on the front page of the Prophet?" Harry meant it as a joke but Seamus gasped in fear.

"Hell, no! Can you imagine the headline "The Boy who lived loves boys"… Gods, Harry, I sure hope it won't come to that."

"I promise you we won't end up on the front page of the paper," he declared in a firm voice.

Seamus smiled and leaned forward whispering "Liar." before his lips sealed over Harry's.

Neither of them heard the portrait hole open or see Hermione slip inside. She stood in the shadows of the entrance and looked at the sofa. She could see Seamus sitting on it and a pair of feet at the end. She recognized them as Harry's immediately. He was the only person she knew who tapped his toes together like that. She didn't catch the last words Harry was saying but she did see Seamus lean forward for an obvious kiss. Hermione frowned; she just heard the most interesting tale from Terry, which involved Harry and Ginny snogging on the seventh floor and Ron catching them. What she saw in front of her indicated that Harry was definitely not going out with Ginny, or maybe he was dating two people. No, that didn't make sense, Harry wasn't like that…

She was about to step forward and confront Harry about the whole situation when the boys on the sofa got up and started making their way to the dorms. Hermione crouched in the shadows, not that it mattered much since neither of them cared what was going on around them. They were looking fondly at each other, smiling and holding hands. Pushing and shoving each other slightly on their way to the stairs, eager to keep touching one another.

Once they were gone Hermione stepped out from the shadows and made her way to her own dorms. What in the name of Merlin was going on here? She thought furiously. She was determined to get to the bottom of this. She was going to corner Harry and get the truth out of him. Tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Summery:** Because she's Hermione Granger and she hates secrets. Because she's too smart for her own good. Because even she has a mischeif side. Surprises never end in the realm of Weasley.

**Bata:** Beankin'– I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 6**

Artist – Sting. Title – Mad about you. Album – The soul cages.

This is so infuriating! Thought Hermione when she sat in History of Magic class, a couple of days after the holidays were over. All around class the students slowly sank into the usual glazed eyes-half asleep mode. To her right, Ron's head was nodding until it finally hit the desk, then he proceeded to nestle it comfortably on his folded arms. To her left, Harry was taking notes. Wait, that can't be right... Harry _never_ took notes in History of Magic. Hermione stole a glance at his parchment and almost sighed in relief. Harry's parchment didn't contain notes about the role of witches and wizards in the wars of the 20th century. Instead it was covered with little drawings of shamrocks in various sizes. A simple charm made them float about the parchment. In the middle of the parchment was a little crude sketch that might not have been very artistic but left very little room for imagination and caused Hermione to blush and avert her eyes. She needed to get to the bottom of this and fast! The past couple of days hadn't been easy for her. Ron wasn't talking to Harry and it felt like fourth year all over again, and Hermione was damned if she was going to pitch in with something like that _again_. The boys weren't fourteen-years-old anymore and it was about time they started acting their age rather than like two pigheaded idiots, even if it was in fact what they were.

While professor Binns's monotonous voice and the soft breathing of the students were the only sounds in the class, Hermione was making plans; she decided she needed to bring the boys to talk to each other on neutral ground. The library was probably a good place. Getting Harry and Ron there was not a problem but she needed to get Ginny to come too and that was a little trickier.

After lunch Hermione caught up with Ginny at the doors of the Great Hall. She grabbed the redhead's arm and propelled her towards a remote corner. Ginny took one look at Hermione's face and decided it was futile to resist. Besides, she knew why Hermione wanted to talk to her.

"What the hell is going on between you and Harry?" Hermione asked crossly as soon as they where out of earshot. Ginny sighed.

"Nothing, there is nothing going on between Harry and me, not that it's any of _your_ business," she added.

"It is my business when Ron and Harry aren't talking and expect me to act as an emissary!" Ginny looked torn between amusement and anger.

"It's hardly my fault my brother is such an idiot," she pointed out but Hermione was already fed up with the whole situation and was not about to let Ginny distract her from her mission.

"What was the story about you and Harry snogging in the seventh floor then?"

"It was a bloody joke! It meant nothing!" called Ginny hotly.

"Are you sure?" Hermione looked sceptical and Ginny gave her a questioning look.

"Harry didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Ginny looked uncomfortable, like she was trying to decide whose trust to betray by telling Hermione the truth.

"I can't really discuss it if Harry didn't say anything, I'm sorry," she finally reached a decision.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Hermione called out in frustration. Ginny looked up in alarm; it was the first time she heard Hermione curse like that.

"Look, Ginny, I'm bored with this little game. I want you to come to the library tonight and explain the whole matter to Ron before things get really out of hand. Be there after dinner," she said and turned to leave, not even waiting for Ginny's reply.

After dinner Hermione made her way to the library. When she rounded the corner she found Harry was already there, he was standing by the library door talking to Seamus. He nudged Seamus when he saw her and the two of them blushed as if she had caught them doing something naughty. As she approached them Seamus said cheerfully,

"Hello, Hermione, how are you doing? I'm only here to return a book, nothing suspicious about it." Harry tried to remain casual while elbowing Seamus to shut him up and smiling at Hermione at the same time. Seamus winced and smiled at Hermione, who looked at both of them through narrowed eyes and felt her anger rising to the surface again. Before she could tackle them, though, they saw Ron rounding one corner of the corridor while Ginny was coming from the other side. When Ron saw the group at the library door an angry look flashed across his face and he turned to leave.

"Ron, wait," called Hermione and at the same time Ginny shouted,

"Ronald Billius Weasley, you stop right there!" Everyone turned to look at her in alarm. She sounded _exactly_ like Mrs. Weasley and that was more than a little scary. Ron turned with an ugly expression on his face, his eyes narrowed and full of disdain. Ginny didn't even give him time to open his mouth. "You are the biggest git I ever had the misfortune to know! Harry and I are _not_ going out together and you would have found out by yourself if you weren't such an idiot and _asked_! It was meant to be a _joke._"

"A joke, what are you, Fred and George, with that twisted sense of humour?" Ron spat out and Ginny flushed red with anger to match his colour. Harry grabbed Hermione and Seamus' arms and started to edge along the wall. A Weasley fight was always worth watching but he really didn't want to be there when the hexes started to fly. Hermione had a moment of hesitation; she knew she should probably step in and break the fight, as Head Girl if nothing else. But even the Head Girl wasn't stupid enough to step in between two fighting Weasleys.

"You are not mum or dad and you can't tell me what to do with my life!" shouted Ginny. "You can't tell me who to date!"

"The hell I can, I'm suppose to take care of you, you're my baby sister," Ron shot back, and that sent Ginny over the edge.

"I AM NOT A BABY!"

They both glared at each other for a couple of seconds, measuring each other's anger, and then Ginny gave the tiniest smile and said triumphantly, "I have a right to date any guy I want, just ask Dean." At that Harry tugged at Hermione and Seamus and chivvied them out of the corridor, almost at a run.

They could hear Ron and Ginny shouting at each other behind them for a long while.

Once outside Ron and Ginny's earshot, Hermione let out an anguished cry. "I didn't mean for this to happen..." She looked around her and her gaze fell on Harry and Seamus standing next to each other, and she was suddenly reminded why she called out this disastrous meeting in the first place. "Would either of _you_ care to explain what the hell is going on here?" she asked smoothly. Harry recognized danger where it lay and said hurriedly,

"We had better go find Dean and warn him that Ron is out to get him." He grabbed Seamus, who still looked disappointed at walking away on what promised to be the best fight of the year, and they both left, almost running away from Hermione.

A few corridors away Harry sank to the floor, covering his face in his hands. Seamus leaned on the wall next to him, trying to catch his breath.

"I can't do it! I can't tell them, they are going to hate me," he said without lifting his head, and Seamus looked down at him.

"So, is it over then?" He tried to keep his voice level. Harry's head shot up in alarm.

"No! What are you talking about?" Seamus looked determinedly at the wall opposite him.

"Those are your choices; really... you can't hide from Ron and Hermione forever. We either tell them what's going on or make sure there is nothing to tell." He fought to keep his voice calm even though he was almost falling to pieces inside.

"I don't want this to end," said Harry quietly and Seamus sank to the floor, almost collapsing with relief. He knelt before Harry and smiled.

"Me neither. Damn it, Harry, I've never felt this happy before, so complete, and it's all thanks to you. I don't think I could stay so close to you without being with you." Harry smiled and cupped Seamus' cheek in his hand.

"I couldn't live with you without being with you either. I guess I'll just have to come clean and tell Ron and Hermione the truth." he sighed and Seamus laughed.

"Where is that famous Gryffindor courage? You've faced far worse than that!" he called out.

"You're right. I did face much worse than that! I faced Oliver Wood and McGonagall and _Snape_!" Seamus laughed again and Harry pulled him close, placing his hand on the Irish boy's chest. He leaned forward and kissed Seamus, but pushed him away before they could let the kiss got too far. They were still sitting in the corridor where any student could pass and see them.

"Well, I'm glad you came to your senses. Now let's go find Dean and warn him of the Weasley danger. We could face said Weasley tomorrow," said Seamus happily.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

As it turned out they didn't face Ron the next day. Or the day after that and Hermione was getting rather impatient that nothing changed. Actually things did change, since Ron forgave Harry and was stubbornly not talking to his sister instead. After about a week Hermione decided she had had enough. She came down to the common room one afternoon to find Harry and Seamus sitting on the sofa talking quietly to each other. They were oblivious to the rest of the room.

Hermione smiled to herself, pointed her wand to her palm and muttered something, and then walked over and dropped behind the sofa's back, causing them both to jump up with alarm.

"Hello boys," she said, smiling broadly.

"What do you want, Hermione?" Harry said gruffly to mask his initial surprise of her appearance.

"I was just wondering if this might be yours. I found it on the floor," she said casually, and held up a little square object.

"Hermione, is that a…?" Harry eyed the thing with an air of dread; Seamus on the other hand was falling in a silent fit of laughter, turning red. Hermione's smile broadened.

"Well, is it yours or not?" Her voice was calm and innocent but there was a wicked glint in her eye.

"Of course it's not ours! What on earth are you talking about?" Harry was getting steadily red in the face and Seamus was observing the scene with great interest as if the whole matter didn't touch him at all.

"Oh, come on Harry, how thick do you think I am! You two have been acting like two giggly first years in love. Even Ron is catching on. Though he seems to completely miss the whole point…" she added almost to herself.

Harry glanced over at Seamus who finally decided to look as embarrassed as he was.

"Look, it's not what you think… We're just… I mean…It's not like…" Seamus was fumbling for words and Harry decided that honesty was the best policy, and besides he knew this was his best chance to get things out in the open.

"Moine, it's exactly what you think it is," he informed her and she beamed with pride at her own power of deduction. "But _this_ is not ours." He took the condom from her hand and cursed himself for getting even redder than before. He really didn't want to discuss the finer points of his relationship with Seamus, especially not with her.

"Where did you get that anyway?" Seamus asked, taking the condom from Harry and examining it.

"I didn't get it anywhere. I conjured it. I wanted to find out what's going on. Shock treatment seemed to be the easiest way to do it," she said cheerfully and couldn't hide her smile at the look on both their faces.

Seamus smiled back at her and nodded his head, muttering "Cheeky tart" under his breath.

At that moment Ron stepped from behind Hermione, slipping his arm around her waist and looking over her shoulder. Hermione stifled a surprised cry and was about to scold Ron for sneaking up behind her when he spotted the condom in Seamus' hand.

"What's that?" he asked curiously and reached for it. Harry tried to grab it first but failed. Ron examined it with interest. "What's that?" he asked again. Hermione gave Harry and Seamus a wink and explained to Ron,

"It's a muggle device to prevent pregnancy or genital diseases," Ron, surprisingly enough, didn't turn red. He was looking at the small square from all angles, obviously trying to figure out how to use the contraption, when Hermione stepped in and explained. _Now_ Ron was getting very red indeed, and he soon matched Harry and Seamus' face colour. He quickly dropped the condom and Seamus caught it and made it disappear with a flick of his wand. He lifted his eyes to see Hermione and Harry in the middle of an animated discussion, using only their eyes and tilting their heads. "You should tell him", her eyes said. "I will, when the right time comes" his eyes shot back.

Seamus watched them for a couple of seconds and then turned to Ron.

"Hermione had just found out that Harry and I are having an affair," he said casually and both Harry and Hermione stared up in alarm.

Ron on the other hand looked thoughtful. "Who are you having an affair with?"

Hermione closed her eyes as if in pain and Harry couldn't help but smile, this was so like Ron, you could always depend on him to get things absolutely wrong.

"With each other!" said Seamus loudly but he was smiling, he also knew what Ron was like.

Ron's eyes widened almost to the size of a house-elf's and his jaw dropped. Harry and Seamus tried to avoid his eye and Hermione breathed out with anger. "Oh Ron, don't be daft! How could you not notice?"

"Well, I'm very sorry if I didn't notice that two of my best friends are having a bloody affair right under our noses!"

"We noticed..." Harry pointed out and Ron looked confused while Hermione turned her eyes and looked very embarrassed indeed. "Oh, never mind! I didn't want you to find out like that, but it doesn't matter now."

Harry was suddenly very angry, he wasn't even sure why. It wasn't as if Ron wasn't acting _exactly _as Harry had predicted, but it still bothered him that he did. That was the reason it took him so long to say anything in the first place.

"How long has this been going on?" Hermione was clearly trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Since Christmas eve," Seamus told her proudly.

Ron's jaw dropped again. "Merlin! That's almost four bloody weeks!" He looked very offended. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Cause I knew you'd faint when you heard it!" Harry was almost shouting.

"Do I _look_ like I'm about to faint?"

"You do look a little pale," Seamus pointed out but both Harry and Ron ignored him.

"I cannot believe that you do not trust me enough, your _best friend_, to tell me that you're gay! That's cutting me deep, Harry, _deep._" Hermione and Seamus exchanged a glance, and Harry had the decency to look embarrassed.

"I'm sorry mate, I should have told you, it's just that… I don't know, I guess I was scared of your reaction, you _are_ my best friend."

Ron smiled. "Well, just for your information, I am perfectly capable of dealing with this sort of news. It's your life after all and you have the right to shag anyone you want." All three of them looked at him like they suspected he was under the Imperius curse. "What?" he asked innocently.

"Nothing, it's just we didn't expect you to take it that well…" Seamus finally found his voice.

"Of course he's going to take it well, he already has some experience, after Charlie brought home his lover during the Christmas holidays and nearly sent mum off to St. Mungo's with a heart attack." everyone turned to look at Ginny's smiling face. Hermione gaped at Ginny voicing the thoughts of all the others.

"Charlie is gay? Dragon-breeding-tough-guy-Charlie is _gay_?" Ron and Ginny nodded.

"He has a really cute boyfriend too, his name's Matt and he's from Australia," added Ginny. Harry was so busy trying to cope with the shower of information that landed on him, Charlie Weasley being gay and the fact that Ron wasn't having a fit of any sort, that he didn't even noticed the fact that apparently Ron and Ginny were talking again. Harry was still pondering over her words when Neville and Parvati stepped through the portrait hole and joined them.

"What's going on, guys?" said Neville cheerfully to them.

"Well, Harry and I are coming out of the closet," Seamus filled him in dryly. Neville didn't look shocked in the least.

"Good for you," he exclaimed. Harry had given up on actually being surprised by now.

"So, are there any more like you?" asked Ron in a cheerful yet slightly worried voice.

"You mean wizards? Of course there are. They're infesting the corridors." said Seamus and everybody laughed.

"Very funny, Seamus, you know what I mean," said Ron, though he was laughing too.

"Of course there are others, Ron, the statistics show that every tenth person is gay, and there are over a 1000 people in the castle." You could always count on Hermione to provide statistics and know things that others didn't really care about.

"Really?" Ron was impressed. "Mind you, if you take our dormitory as an example the statistics are much higher."

"Nobody is taking your dormitory as an example for anything, Ron," said Ginny dryly and everyone laughed again. "But this _is_ interesting. You guys must know who else is gay around here, come on spill it out." Her eyes were shining in a dangerous way.

"I bet Zacharias Smith is a poof," said Neville.

"Zacharias Smith is an idiot, he's not gay," said Ginny. "Come on guys, you must have former lovers or something."

"Nope," said Seamus. "It's Harry all the way for me, I'm afraid." He smiled fondly at Harry and took his hand.

"What about you, Harry?" asked Hermione casually and Harry looked at her in horror. He'd expected this from Ginny or even Neville but Hermione was always dead against gossip.

"I really don't want to discuss that, it's none of your business," he said with dignity.

Seamus leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "Now you've done yourself in." And indeed the faces around Harry all lit up with anticipation. Harry obviously had something to hide and they _would_ find out what it was, or who.

"Ginny, what do you mean your mother almost got a heart attack when she heard about your brother? I always thought your parents were really open minded and all," said Seamus, and Harry gave him a grateful look and squeezed his hand lovingly.

"Oh, she doesn't mind that Charlie's gay, and she loves Matt. The problem was he brought my dad a boomerang as a present and dad managed to ruin all her rose bushes," she explained, and the group exploded with roars of laughter. Mr. Weasley was known for his love for muggle artefacts and his tendency for disasters and they could all picture the scene quite accurately.

"Not to mention he almost ruined Christmas dinner when the bloody thing landed in the middle of mum's special pudding. She was almost purple in the face with rage. Even Fred said he never saw that colour on her, and he should know..." added Ron and the laughter grew louder.

At that moment Dean climbed through the portrait hole, looking very angry indeed.

"What's wrong mate?" asked Seamus and the laughter died as everyone turned to look at Dean.

"Bloody detention with Slughorn. He made me clean all the muck from the sodding supply cupboard. The place was _filthy_ and I had to clean it all with my _hands_! No magic!" he showed them his hands that were covered in stains in various colours from green to purple, and bore strange marks that looked a bit like bite marks. Hermione examined them carefully and said in an encouraging voice,

"Rub some lemon on them, it should rid you of most of those stains." Dean flashed a weary 'thank you' smile at her.

"So, what were you guys laughing about?"

"We were telling them about the Christmas disaster my dad caused with his new boomerang," explained Ron, but Dean looked even more confused _after_ his explanation.

Ginny sighed. "Our brother Charlie brought his lover Matt to spend Christmas with us and he gave our dad a boomerang." Dean still looked confused and she knew what would be his next question, so she beat him to the punch. "Yes, my brother Charlie, the tough guy who works with dragons, is queer!" She gave Dean a threatening look that clearly challenged him to say anything offensive. Dean hurriedly changed his facial expression to a blank one. Ginny could be very dangerous when provoked, especially when it came to her family.

"That's really great Ginny," Dean swallowed nervously.

"Harry, you didn't answer our question. Who else did you sleep with?" asked Neville clearly to cover Dean's embarrassment, causing Harry to blush again. "We are trying to figure out who else in school is gay," he explained to Dean.

"Why would Harry know who else in school is gay?" asked Dean, and then rethought Neville's last words. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped; he looked just like Ron did a mere half hour ago. All around the group every person was trying to hide a smile except Harry and Seamus who looked at Dean seriously.

Seamus reached out to Dean. "Look mate, it's not such a big deal. I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner…" Dean hastily drew his hand away.

"What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously, and Seamus cursed inwardly and took a deep breath.

"Dean, buddy, mate, Harry and I have been going out with each other for four weeks now." His eyes never left Dean's face; he knew this was not going to be easy.

Dean didn't say anything for a long time. Eventually he lifted his chin and looked at Seamus and Harry with narrowed eyes. "You two are…" he fumbled around the last word and couldn't say it.

"We are gay, yes," said Harry helpfully, but Dean's face turned into an ugly mask. Everyone was staring at him, the usually calm, laughing and gentle Dean who looked now like he wanted to pummel Harry and Seamus senseless.

"You two disgust me," he hissed and turned, swiping fast past the others and out the portrait hole. All the common room was now watching the scene with interest. Nobody knew exactly what happened but everyone noticed Dean's dramatic exit.

The group who stood around Seamus and Harry all looked very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry guys," whispered Neville.

"Don't worry Nev, it's not your fault," said Seamus soothingly, but he and Harry both felt very stupid and they both wanted to get the hell out of there. "Well, I guess the fun's over for tonight, time for bed then," he said as lightly as he possibly could and got up. Harry followed him and bade good night to their friends, who murmured good night in return, and they both made their way up to their dorm.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Summery:** Ghosts and portraits and very disgranteled Dean.

**Bata:** Beankin' – I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 7**

Artist – Sting. Title – Mad about you. Album – The soul cages.

Once they were inside their dorm Harry and Seamus began to get ready for bed without speaking or even looking at each other. The whole evening experience had been so strange, for both of them. Neither of them actually planed to tell the others what was going on, certainly not that way. Harry naturally planed to tell Ron and Hermione some day, probably after school was over, but he should have known that Hermione was far too clever and observant not to notice anything.

Harry and Seamus looked at each other, a little tilt of the head, a nod and they were both behind the curtains of Harry's bed. They sat facing each other with their knees drawn to their chests. Harry quickly cast the silencing charm around them though there was no one else in the room.

"That was… interesting," said Seamus,

"More like terrifying," exclaimed Harry and they both laughed a little.

"You certainly dug your grave back there; you know they are not going to leave you until you tell them about Terry."

"I'm not going to tell them about anyone. It's none of their business!"

"Since when did _that_ ever stopped anyone around here?" Harry sighed, Seamus had a point there. They both sat lost in thought for a while,

"I can't believe that git Dean!" Seamus exclaimed loudly causing Harry to jump "He's supposed to be my best friend! None of the others had a problem with that, even Ron."

"Yeah, that _was_ weird; I always thought it would be the other way around."

"I really hate to think he hates me because of that." Seamus sounded sad,

"Shey, he doesn't hate you, he's just in shock," Harry tried to comfort him,

"What would you do if Ron was acting that way?" Seamus lifted his eyes to look into Harry's,

"I don't know…" Seamus sighed and looked at his feet.

Harry bit his lip and wondered what he could do to make Seamus feel better and the only thing he could think of was to lean forward and kiss him. Seamus instantly melted into the kiss and pulled Harry on top of him. At that moment they heard the door of the dormitory open and Ron and Neville entering. Seamus and Harry hastily broke apart forgetting the silencing spell. They listened for a while to the other boys getting ready for bed and then waited till they heard their breath deepening with sleep.

They lay next to each other for a while each wrapped in his thoughts when Seamus suddenly sat up, "Where's Dean? He didn't come in with the others. Its way past curfew. Bugger! He's going to get in troubles and it's all my fault. Harry, we have to go and find him!" Harry didn't feel like going to look for anyone at this hour but knew how important this was for Seamus.

"Wait," he said before Seamus could get out of bed and run around the corridors like a reckless git getting caught by Filch. After all Seamus didn't have the experience or the equipment Harry had. He dived behind the curtain and came back holding an old parchment.

"What's that?" asked Seamus curiously when Harry tapped the parchment with his wand saying clearly,

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Lines started to spread from the tip of his wand forming words. Seamus gaped in surprise and looked at the inscription,

"Who are Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail? And what are the Marauders?" before Harry could answer the words changed and the lines started to form a complicated pattern. When the map was complete Harry explained,

"This is the Marauders' map. It was written by my dad and his friends. It shows all of Hogwarts and the people in it." Seamus was impressed,

"No kidding… which one's your dad?"

"Prongs. They called themselves after the form of their animagus. My dad was a stag. Padfoot is Sirius Black, he was a dog. Moony is professor Lupin, he's a werewolf," Seamus laughed,

"Of course. I can't believe it – professor Lupin was a hell raiser…" Harry smirked,

"We probably don't know the half of it."

"Who is Wormtail?" asked Seamus and Harry's smile faded,

"It's Peter Pettigrew." he said sourly Seamus took one look at his face and hastily changed the subject,

"How did you get that map? Don't tell me professor Lupin gave it to you…" Harry laughed and shook his head,

"Of course not! It was Fred and George, back in third year."

"I should have guessed. Bet Ron was over the moon about it."

"Hermione too, she tried to make me give it to McGonagall."

They both snickered and turned to scan the map. Being after hours most of the corridors were empty.

"The astronomy tower looks in full usage," pointed out Seamus with a smile, "Everyone in this castle is a crazed hormone junky." he shook his head,

"Yeah, except for us, of course…"

"Of course…"

They continued to scan the map looking for the little sign that read "Dean Thomas". They sat close together, their heads bowed together and their knees touching. If they hadn't been concerned about Dean they would probably lose the map at this point.

"There he is!" called Harry after a couple of minutes. He pointed at the map. Apparently Dean was sitting by the window of a disused class in the fifth floor.

"Let's go!" Seamus leaped from the bed and went to put on his slippers. Harry in the meanwhile dived behind the curtain again and came up with his invisibility cloak.

They made their way silently to the corridor outside the dorms and then Harry pulled the cloak over both of them. They made their way to the empty common room and out the portrait hole. The Fat Lady looked around her to see who left the tower, when she saw no one she said in an amused tone,

"Harry Potter, I presume…" Harry turned a little red under the cloak and murmured,

"Good evening…" the Fat Lady laughed,

"Don't you go doing anything naughty," she said in a highly amused tone and he flashed crimson as they left. Once they rounded the corner Seamus couldn't hold the laugher anymore.

"The Fat Lady got the hots for you." he called,

"Yeah, so does Moaning Myrtle, what's your point?" Harry's voice was almost bored but his eyes glistened and Seamus laughed again,

"Harry, you freak magnet…" he leaned forward to kiss Harry "I hope you told them you're mine!" he whispered

"Yes, because that's exactly the type of conversations we have… actually, come to think about it – this _is_ the type of conversation I was having with Myrtle the last time we met… she saw me with Terry in the Prefects' bathroom." he explained apologetically. Seamus opened his eyes wide,

"Harry, that's gross… not to mention voyeuristic… she's one seriously disturbed ghost…"

"Shey, she hunt the prefects' bathroom to see some action, of course she's disturbed. Let's get a move on if we don't want Filch to catch us."

"Speaking of disturbed freaks." murmured Seamus as they started walking again and Harry smiled.

As they moved silently towards the fifth floor Harry mused how different walking with Seamus under the cloak was than walking with Ron. With Ron (and sometimes Hermione) there was always the awkwardness of not touching each other too much which made moving around a lot slower and noisier. With Seamus it was much easier, his arm was wrapped around Seamus' waist and they walked in a smooth motion.

When they reached the class Dean was in they slipped through the door and took the cloak off. Dean jumped from the window seal in alarm.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he breathed out angrily,

"We came to talk to you and make sure you're alright." said Seamus and made a few steps in Dean's direction,

"I don't need you freaks coming after me, and I have nothing to say to either of you!"

"Fine! Will you at least listen to what we have to say?" Seamus voice was almost pleading but his stanch was tight and angry,

"NO!" Dean shouted and ran past them and out of the room,

"That went well." murmured Harry and put his hand on Seamus' shoulder,

"He is such a sodding twat! He makes me so angry. What the hell is his problem?" called out Seamus in frustration and slammed his fist in the nearest desk. Harry didn't have an answer for that. Dean was acting so out of character and frankly he found his behaviour offensive and even insulting. He wrapped his arms around Seamus and felt him shaking. Seamus took a deep breath and leaned his head on Harry's shoulder, his arms moving to hug Harry. They stood there without speaking for a few minutes when Harry suddenly remembered they were not in the dorms and that Filch could walk in on them any bloody second. He quickly pulled the map and looked at it. Luckily Filch was strolling in the first floor with his infamous cat Mrs. Norris. Dean seemed to have made his way back to the Gryffindor tower safely.

"We should get back" he whispered in Seamus' ear.

"I know. I don't want to."

"So what do you suggest we do? Stay here all night?"

"Yes!" he said firmly and then sighed, "But I'm too fond of luxuries such as a bed… I guess we better make our way back."

Once again Harry pulled the cloak around them and they made their way back. When they reached the tower he pulled the cloak off himself so that the Fat Lady could see him,

"Well, that didn't take long." she observed in neutral tone.

"Ice lollies." Harry said and the Fat Lady smiled,

"You said it, love." she snickered at her own joke and winked before she swung open. Once inside the common room Seamus collapsed on a sofa laughing.

"She shouldn't be allowed to come up with innocent passwords and then make them sound dirty!" Harry said and that sent Seamus in a new laughing fit.

"Oh, shut up! It's your fault, now she thinks I sneak around the castle to get shagged!" he sat on the sofa and tried to hide his smile. Seamus sat up and brought his face close to Harry's,

"Who said you aren't?" his blue eyes were glinting,

"Because I don't actually have to leave the bloody tower to get some!" he leaned forward to kiss Seamus but he was sniggering again and Harry couldn't catch his lips at first but then Seamus calmed down enough to allow Harry to kiss him deep.

"We better go to sleep if we want to be of any use tomorrow." said Seamus sadly when they broke apart. Harry nodded and they made their way up.

When they entered the dorm room the curtains around Dean's bed were pulled and he was obviously sleeping. Seamus shook his head and went to his bed and Harry went to his own. Somehow the idea of being in the same bed didn't sound so appealing suddenly. He lay in his bed thinking, he was actually happy that the whole "coming out" business went so well, minus the little Dean hitch, it was really comforting to know their friends will be there to support them. And then again, there was Dean.

Harry couldn't grasp why he was so mad, it's true he never spoke of gays before but whenever the subject came up – and it was amazing how often it came up with a group of mostly heterosexuals, he never seemed to mind. Harry suspected there was something deeper here that ran between Seamus and Dean, and not just plain homophobia. He didn't know what it was and he knew that Seamus would never tell him, and he wasn't sure he didn't prefer Dean to be just a homophobe.

After about an hour of thinking along these lined he realized he was not making any progress in the sleeping department. He didn't want to sleep alone. He got up and slipped through his curtains, closing them behind him and made his way to Seamus' bed. When he slipped through the curtains he discovered Seamus wide awake.

"You're not sleeping." he observed,

"Neither are you."

"I couldn't sleep. I don't want to be alone."

Seamus smiled and took him in his arms whispering in his hair,

"Me either. But you have to go back to your own bed before dawn."

"No problem, some of us can actually get up before noon without a wand pointed to our head…"

"Sod off." murmured Seamus and made himself comfortable in their embrace and closed his eyes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next couple of weeks were no picnic. Dean still refused to talk to either Harry or Seamus, and did his best to ignore them all together. Seamus tried to talk to him a couple of times but Dean refused to listen. The others on the other hand, wouldn't give up on finding out who were Harry's former lovers. Between avoiding the attempts of Ron, Ginny, Neville and even Hermione of trying to find out things and trying to patch things with Dean, not to mention the fact they were both afraid he'd be angry enough with them to tell the whole school, things didn't look too promising. The others would never say anything on purpose but if they carried on like that they might let something slip. It was obvious that kind of news will spread like fire in a thorn field if it ever came out and not only in the school, after all Harry was "The Boy who lived" or whatever they chose to call him these days ("The Boy who saved us all" was amongst the titles) and this kind of gossip would make the press' year. It was little wonder that Harry and Seamus soon became edgy and cross, snapping at their friends for no reason. The only thing that was helping them relax those days was the ability to sneak to the Room of Requirement in order to escape their friends and the rest of the school.

Harry was extremely grateful when the Quidditch game against Ravenclaw finally came. That would probably distract everyone for at least a whole afternoon, especially if Gryffindor won. Little did he know that it would land him in an even bigger heap of troubles than before.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Summery:** A very public match, a little too public for the liking of some... Well, at least they got Dean back on their corner.

**Bata:** Beankin' – I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 8**

Artist – Sting. Title – Mad about you. Album – The soul cages.

That Sunday morning Harry got up in a good mood. It's been quite a while since he played for real; the last Gryffindor match was almost two months ago and that was against Slytherin. After the fall of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, the house of Slytherin suffered quite a few losses. Not only students who died but mostly parents who refused to send their children back to Hogwarts. From a proud and arrogant house, Slytherin turned into a mass of students doing their best to keep their heads down and finish the year. Their Quidditch team was quite abysmal and they didn't seem to care. Harry found it very sad. True, he hated Slytherin, some members more than others, and everybody knew that. But he still found the mess that had become Slytherin to be a little too pathetic. It proved they were never much of a house to begin with. Personal rivalry, greed and family reputation were much more important to them than house loyalty and friendship. But that was their problem, he thought, he was a Gryffindor after all.

Once in the changing room Harry gave his players the pre match pep talk. Ravenclaw was always a good team but this year they were on fire. They currently held the second place after Gryffindor but there were only 20 points separating the two teams which meant that Gryffindor had to win this match to stay in the lead.

When they came out of the changing rooms the stands were already full of cheering people wearing red or blue.

"Good afternoon Quidditch fans, and welcome on this very fine day to the Gryffindor- Ravenclaw match," Seamus' voice floated cheerfully from the commentator stand. Bugger, bugger, bugger! Harry cursed inwardly, the last thing he needs right now is to be distracted by Seamus' voice. And that was quite a distraction, especially when he said Harry's name. He completely forgot about Seamus commentating. The last game was commentary was made by Luna Lovegood, since Seamus had a nasty cold and almost lost his voice.

"This match promises to be one of the most exciting of the year, as the teams stand with only 20 points separating them. And here they come. And now we have the traditional captains' hand shake, between the Ravenclaw captain Will McKay, who is also their keeper, and the Gryffindor captain Harry Potter, seeker and legend. And here is the whistle and they are off."

Harry soared high above the pitch to scan the game like he did every time. He made a mental note to himself of Abby Goldman, the new Ravenclaw seeker, the replacement for Cho Chang who left Hogwarts (much to Harry's relief, as she turned a little too freaky for him after Cedric's death). He never played against Abby before but she looked fit and fast. He started his routine of looking for the snitch.

The game was close; the teams switched the lead between them constantly. Harry circled the pitch a couple of times, his mind elsewhere. He was paying more attention to Seamus' voice than to the game, and he didn't even notice it. He had to catch himself a couple of times from the half aroused state Seamus' voice was sending him to and force his attention back to the game. Bugger! It's no good, he thought, I can't focus. He tried to block the commentary out but it was hard to break years of habit in a few seconds. Besides, it was pretty much the only coherent sound around. He wished Lee Jordan was still in school; then this rather embarrassing problem wouldn't exist. Even Luna Lovegood would be nice right now, though whenever she was in charge of the commentary it was very hard to concentrate as everyone frequently stopped to try and figure out what the hell she just said.

A sharp movement at the corner of his eye caused him to focus again and he turned to see Abby rushing downwards; she saw the snitch. Harry cursed loudly and started to follow but he knew he didn't have much chance, she was too far ahead. He heard Seamus' voice floating in the air.

"And Abby Goldman is after the snitch, which is apparently near the Ravenclaw goal post. The Gryffindor seeker is too high to catch her; it looks like a Ravenclaw win. But wait! Ginny Weasley, one of the Gryffindor chasers, has just blocked Goldman's way to the snitch, forcing her to change course. That's amazing. The snitch disappeared again. Well done Ginny!" A roar of boos from the Ravenclaw side and cheers from the red stands followed his last statement. "Whatever happened to Harry? It's very unlike for him to be this careless. What's gotten into him?" From somewhere in the crowd someone called loudly:

"Apparently _You_, Finnigan".

The whole world stopped around Harry. He could feel the heat rising to his face and knew he must be crimson by now. He didn't recognize the voice but it didn't make much difference. He glanced down to where Seamus was standing and even from this height he could see the bright red colour of his face. It probably didn't help their case that they both stopped and looked guilty as hell. The crowd held its breath; this was _interesting_. After what seemed like eternity to Harry he heard Professor McGonagall's whisper, "Finnigan, what's wrong with you? Get a move on!" Her whisper hissed through the magical microphone and shook the crowd out of trance. There was a wave of murmurs that had nothing to do with the game before Seamus found his voice again.

"Hmmm, yes, we continue the game…" He took a deep breath and did his best to ignore the crowd. "The quaffle is again in Gryffindor possession, Dean Thomas passing it to Ginny Weasley. Back to Thomas and it's him against the Ravenclaw keeper McKay, Thomas shoots and it's IN! Gryffindor scores and we have yet another tie; both teams currently stand at 80 points."

Harry just wanted the game to end but he knew he was the only one who could end it (to the Gryffindors' satisfaction anyway); he shook his head to get rid of the embarrassment and forced himself to focus one hundred per cent on the search for the bloody snitch. And there it was, hovering a few feet from the ground near one of the stands. He turned his broom and started racing towards the little ball. Abby saw his movement and followed suit. They both raced almost neck to neck; she is fast, thought Harry on the way down, but she is no match for me…

In the last few feet above the ground she pulled up but Harry didn't. His fingers closed on the small ball and he managed to avoid colliding with the stand with just a few inches to spare. He soared back up and held his hand high.

"And the Gryffindor captain and seeker Harry Potter has the snitch! The game ends with a Gryffindor victory 230 – 90!" There was a disappointed groan from the Ravenclaw supporters which was drowned by the cheers of the Gryffindors. Harry closed his eyes, relieved the match was over. When he opened them again his team was surrounding him to hug him. He noticed that Dean was not among them and he also noticed Ginny's reproachful look. He didn't feel very victorious at the moment, only extremely stupid. He wanted to be left alone. The Gryffindor team made its way to the ground and Harry went to Madame Hooch to shake Will's hand. By the time he started making his way to the showers most of the stands were empty.

Seamus took a deep breath. What in the name of Merlin and Dumbledore just happened here? He was sitting behind the microphone as the crowd piled out of the pitch, holding his head in his hands. This cannot be good! This was probably going to be so bad, he thought miserably. McGonagall stepped in behind him.

"Finnigan!" she said sharply, and he jumped. "Would you care to explain what happened to you and Potter back there?" Seamus shook his head; he really did not want to explain anything, especially to the headmistress.

"Humour me anyway," McGonagall's voice was dry and suggested she already knew.

"I'm not sure what happened, someone was shouting something…" She cut him off impatiently.

"Mr. Finnigan, I'm glad you take your commentary duties so seriously but that was _not _my question. Is it true?"

Seamus nodded. He couldn't actually face her. She took a deep breath and said in a very businesslike tone, "I see. Well, I suggest you write to your parents immediately."

Seamus' head snapped up in horror. "No! Why?"

"Because whether you like it or not, the Daily Prophet is obsessed with Harry Potter and something like this will not pass quietly."

"Can't _you_ do something about it?" Seamus sounded a little desperate. He did not want to write to his parents, he didn't want to deal with any of this.

"If I had any power over the Daily Prophet, many things would have been much different, I assure you," said McGonagall. "You chose the most famous wizard of our time and now you have to face the consequences."

"I didn't choose him! And it wasn't because he's famous!" Seamus rose from his chair, and met McGonagall's cool stare and tiny flicker of a smile.

"I'm glad to hear that. Now, run along, you and Mr. Potter have a lot to talk about."

Once on the ground he broke into a run towards the changing rooms. That was _scary_; McGonagall had this effect on people sometimes. When he burst inside the showers he found them empty except for a very confused Harry sitting, still in his Quidditch robes, on the bench.

At the sound from the door Harry's head rose. When he saw Seamus he got up and crossed the room towards him, falling into his arms. It was a very nice gesture, thought Seamus, but it didn't really change the fact that Harry just finished a Quidditch game.

"Harry, you need to shower. And fast!" Harry didn't move.

"Come with me."

"Where to?"

"To the shower, silly."

"I'm not sure it's a very good idea right now and besides, I don't really need a shower."

Harry smiled and ran his hand through his sweaty hair and then moved it along Seamus' face and neck. "You do now."

Seamus laughed. "That was gross, mate!" But he didn't resist when Harry pulled him towards the shower while pushing away his robes.

They stood under the hot water for a while, holding each other, each deep in his thoughts. Harry turned to face Seamus. "What the hell are we going to do now?" he asked.

"I don't know, McGonagall cornered me after the game to ask if it's true."

"Did you tell her?"

"I didn't really have much choice, did I? She said I have to write home and tell my parents."

"She's right, you know."

"I know!" Seamus didn't mean to snap like that, especially not at Harry, but the idea of writing to his parents was playing wreck on his nerves. He took a deep breath. Harry sensed this was a delicate subject and decided to leave it; instead he wrapped his arms more firmly around Seamus and tried to comfort him. After a while Seamus moved and detached himself from Harry.

"My back is freezing," he explained. They finished showering quickly and took two big white towels from the pile in the corner and sat on the bench.

"We have to decide how we are going to deal with this," said Harry, and Seamus pouted. "You do realize it's probably going to be on the front page of the prophet tomorrow, right?" Seamus sighed.

"I say we ignore them all. They can write whatever they want. I don't care!"

"Easy for you to say, you're name probably won't even be there," murmured Harry.

"I need to face my parents!" Seamus was sounding impatient again, he got up and walked to the wall. "That's going to be far worse than anything the stupid paper will publish!"

"Why? What's the worst they can do?"

"Well, first they're going to be raged, then they'll probably blame the system and eventually they'll go into deep denial," said Seamus in a flat voice. He leaned against the wall, not even looking at Harry.

"Isn't there supposed to be some sort of exceptance in the end?"

"I seriously doubt it. They'll probably declare me dead or something."

"Come on, I'm sure it's not going to be that bad…" Harry knew it was quite futile. It was very hard to get Seamus out of a depressed mood once he decided to plunge himself into one.

"You don't know what it's like! Just forget it. You won't understand."

"Why won't I understand? Is it because I don't have any parents!" Harry's voice was tense.

"What? NO! Damn it, Harry, stop being such a bloody martyr! Not everybody is out to get you just because you're an orphan! You are not going to understand what it's going to be like because you didn't grow up in an Irish-Catholic family!" Seamus was shouting and Harry realized he was actually afraid. His own anger over Seamus' remark subsided when he saw the state Seamus was in. He wanted to reach out and hug Seamus but he wasn't sure the gesture would be appreciated, so instead he leaned on the wall next to him, his hands tucked behind him.

"I'm sure they wouldn't. I mean, it's not like this is such a big deal."

"Oh, really? Harry, you can't even begin to realize just how big a deal this is! You know what they do to people like us where I come from?" Seamus turned and pressed his forehead against the cold, rough stone. "Where I come from, people like us don't even count as people. If you are lucky you end up an outcast."

"What if you're not lucky?" Harry couldn't stop the words slipping from his lips.

Seamus turned his head to look at Harry. "You end up dead," he said in a grave voice. Harry tried to stifle a smile; this was a bit too much for him. He never knew Seamus had such a flare for drama. He reached over and pulled Seamus to a tight hug, and felt Seamus' body trembling against his.

The door opened quietly and Dean slipped inside. He could almost feel the tension in the air but the picture in front of him told him that the storm had passed. All that was left was two boys holding each other for comfort, nothing special. If you could see past the fact they were both half naked, wearing only towels, that is. Dean wasn't sure what to do, he knew that if he turned now he would never muster the courage to speak to them again, but on the other hand he didn't really feel like treading on what looked like a very private moment.

He took a deep breath and coughed to announce his presence. They both jumped as if electrified and there was momentary confusion as they both tried to catch their slipping towels. Dean hastily turned to face the door, trying his best to focus on the texture of the wood and not notice the noises behind him. It is truly amazing how you can live in a place for so long and never notice its doors, he thought desperately. After several minutes Seamus said, slightly out of breath, "You can turn around." Dean cautiously turned and to his enormous relief found they were both dressed in their robes, a little crumpled and askew, but in robes all the same.

Dean took a deep breath and avoided looking at either of them. "I came here to apologize," he said quietly. "I acted like a real arse and I had no right too."

Harry was about to open his mouth to say "It's ok, mate," when Seamus cut in with a sharp voice.

"You did act like a real arse." Dean hung his head lower, expecting the reprimand he knew he deserved it. Harry looked at both of them and realized that this was not his fight. He shuffled his feet and said a bit uncertainly,

"Well, I'll leave you two to it, then." He hesitated for a second, and then turned to Dean. "Great to have you back, mate." Dean looked at him with surprise and smiled a bit. Harry moved as fast as he could and slipped through the door. Once outside the changing rooms he felt he could breathe more freely, mightily glad this was not his business. After all, _his_ best friend was quite supportive, even if Harry still marvelled over that one.

He smiled to himself; having Dean back on their side right now was probably a very good thing, especially for Seamus.

He made his way back to the tower through the empty corridors. The thrill of having Dean back on their side was ebbing away as he thought of what will probably wait for him back in the tower. Everyone will support him but be glad they are not him. He just wanted to shout "Stop it! Stop trying to do the right thing!" But they were Gryffindors and trying to do the right thing was what they did, they couldn't help themselves. He supposed he should be happy, grateful even. They might not accept him and his sexual preference but at least they won't give him a hard time about it. But he wasn't happy, he hated that. He preferred that they would resent him, hate him, for him, for what he was, as long as this was what they really thought. Yet he was Harry Potter- the hero of the wizarding world, the poor orphan fated to face the Dark Lord and defeat evil or be defeated himself.

Over the years he had grown to accept this burdening sympathy from everyone. But he never managed to bring himself to like it. And in times like this the old resentment came flooding back.

Since the end of last summer his name never left the front page of the Prophet. When he came back to Hogwarts everyone started to look at him the way Ginny did for years, with absolute admiration and love (Well, most of the girls did. The boys just admired him). Harry had to admit it was slightly better than pity, but all he really wanted was for people to stop staring at him altogether. He wished this year would be over so he could leave Hogwarts and then finally vanish into obscurity and anonymity.

Right now he just wanted to be left alone. But that wasn't going to happen, he realized when he reached the tower and came across the very angry and offended Fat Lady. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down her nose at him. Harry didn't feel like dealing with the hurt feelings of portraits at the moment but before he could say anything she snapped at him, "How come you never told me! I've watched you sneak out of the tower ever since you were in your first year and all this time you were involved with a boy? With Mr. Finnigan!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "I wasn't involved with him _all_ this time. Look, it's just…" before he could finish a ghost materialized from the wall beside the Fat Lady, and Nearly Headless Nick stood in front of him looking just as cross as the Fat Lady.

"Miss Granger asked me to find you," he informed Harry in his most official voice, not looking directly at Harry.

"Nick…"

"It's Sir Nicholas, if it's all the same to you," said the ghost haughtily. "I was under the misapprehension we were friends," he added with a hurt voice.

"We are," protested Harry.

"Then why, prey, was I not informed of this…" he waved his hand, "ordeal?"

This is not happening, thought Harry furiously, I am not standing here explaining myself to a bloody portrait and ghost!

"I heard the little girl from the toilet knew about it!" said the Fat Lady in an offended yet conspiratorial voice.

"You told Myrtle about this!" Sir Nick looked completely shocked. Harry couldn't tell whether it was because he thought Myrtle was too young to know such things or because she knew before he did.

"I didn't tell Myrtle about this!" Harry almost shouted. "She found out on her own…" he added almost to himself. Both the Fat Lady and Sir Nick looked scandalized.

Harry robbed his forehead and tried to think how to deal with the situation.

"Look, I'm sorry you had to find out like that. If it's any consolation, I didn't plan for it ever to be found out…" The look on both their faces informed him that, no; it wasn't much of a consolation. Harry sighed. "I can't deal with this right now…" he murmured and then looked up at the Fat Lady. "Fluffy fruitcake, and don't you _dare_ make a joke about it!" he added warningly. She gave him a haughty look but swung open.

Inside the common room he found a rather interesting picture. Hermione, Ron and Lavender were facing what seemed the whole house. When she saw Harry, Hermione ran over to him.

"I see Sir Nicholas found you," she said.

"You could say that…" Harry said almost to himself. He looked up at her face and saw _that _sympathy. He gave her arm a little squeeze and headed for the stairs before she could say anything and before he could snap at her.

He lay on his bed and tried to think things over coherently. He didn't really care what the Prophet had to say, it couldn't possibly be worse than during fourth year when their vicious lies almost cost him his best friend. But he was worried about Seamus. Clearly the other boy wasn't prepared to face all this. He obviously feared his parents' reaction more than anything else and for the first time in his life Harry was quite pleased he didn't have this problem. If his father flipped over when he found out his two best friends were having it off what would he say if he ever found out his own son was a queer? No! That was definitely a blessing, of some twisted sort.

After a while the door opened and Ron poked his head around it. "Can we come in?" Harry wasn't particularly keen on talking to anyone but felt the current train of thoughts wasn't leading anywhere, and who knows, maybe his friends had insights he didn't posses. Soon he found himself sitting on his pillow with his knees drown to his chest and Ron, Ginny, Neville and Parvati all sitting on his bed around him.

"Where's Hermione?" asked Harry. It wasn't like her to miss out something like this.

"She's off to meet Terry Boot and go talk to the other houses," explained Ron. "McGonagall called the prefects after the game and told us that the official school stand is to support you no matter what the Prophet says."

"That's was very nice of her," said Parvati earnestly.

"I don't think she was being nice, I think she just really hates the Prophet. She'd probably support their hiding dragons if it would upset the Prophet," said Ron dryly and they all laughed, including Harry. The door opened again and Hermione slipped into the room, looking pleased over something.

"Well, Terry and I talked to the Hufflepuffs and the Slytherins, though I must say, they couldn't care less. Good thing they hate Gryffindors so much." She gave Harry a significant look when no one was looking and Harry suspected she got out of Terry more than she was letting show. He nodded, glad the others were there and she couldn't confront him on the subject.

"Where's Seamus?" asked Parvati, shaking Harry out of his thoughts.

"I killed him and buried him in the forbidden forest," answered Harry with a weary smile.

"That's not funny Potter!" she snapped while the others sniggered.

"He's still in the changing rooms, talking to Dean."

"That's great!" exclaimed Hermione. "I'm so glad you guys made up." Harry smiled at her.

"So, who was it that shouted during the match?" asked Ginny. Harry shrugged.

"Well, it wasn't anyone from our stand," said Neville.

"But that doesn't mean it wasn't a Gryffindor," said Hermione. "There were a lot of them among the Hufflepuffs. I think it's probably someone who overheard our conversation the other day." She sounded sad. "I'm so sorry Harry, I shouldn't have provoked you to talk about it in the middle of the common room."

"It's ok, Moine, it's not your fault." He put a comforting hand on her arm and she smiled at him. That horrible sympathy again, that always made him feel like he was a twelve year old kid who nobody trusted to do the right thing on his own. He reminded himself firmly that after all Hermione, and all of them really, only meant to help him. He should be grateful he had such good friends.

"It doesn't really matter who it was, the damage is already done. We need to figure out what to do next," said Ron in a businesslike tone. Everyone started to throw suggestion of what is to be done next. Harry sat and listened to them without saying a word. After covering the rational ways of dealing with the situation (which weren't many) people started throwing crazy ideas like running abroad or burning the Daily Prophet. Raiding it with dragons was another suggestion. When Seamus and Dean entered the room they found everyone sitting on Harry's bed laughing their hearts out. Seamus sat next to Harry half leaning on him, but apart from that they did not touch each other. Yet they still drew a simple comfort from each other's presence and Harry was mightily glad he wasn't alone in this.

* * *

**Author's note:** When you read the part with Nearly-Headless-Nick and the Fat Lady just imagine John Cleese and Dawn French… That's what I did, and I found it hilarious. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Summery:** Stupid Prophet, angsty Lupin and good friends to get you by.

**Bata:** Beankin'– I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 9**

Artist – Sting. Title – Mad about you. Album – The soul cages.

Harry woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. It was because he stayed up until about three in the morning talking to his friends. The gathering ended well after lights out, when Ron gave such a huge yawn it almost split his face in half. The girls bade everyone good night and left the room and the boys started to get ready to sleep. Harry was exhausted, from the match, from the talk, from the whole situation, but when he lay in his bed he couldn't sleep. He knew Seamus wasn't sleeping either but he didn't leave his bed and Seamus didn't come over. It's probably for the best under the circumstances, thought Harry, though the thought didn't comfort him.

In the morning he forced himself to get up and get dressed. Seamus looked as tired as Harry felt and Harry thought this would probably give the whole bloody school something to talk about. They were all going to assume they shagged each other all night. The thought made him smile. Idiots.

He left the tower with his roommates and they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, but before they reached the Hall, professor Lupin stopped them.

"Harry, Seamus, can I see you in my office for a minute?" Everyone exchanged glances and Ron muttered something about making them sandwiches before he, Neville and Dean continued their way to breakfast. Harry and Seamus followed the head of their house to his office on the third floor.

"Tea?" asked Lupin once they were inside. Harry and Seamus nodded and he tapped the kettle which started to steam, and made himself busy with tea cups and saucers while Harry and Seamus took seats in front of his desk.

"I assume you didn't see the paper yet?" he asked once he sat down and handed them their tea. They both shook their heads. He tossed a copy of the Daily Prophet on the desk and they both looked at it.

The front page was covered with a giant picture of Harry. It was an old picture taken during the Triwizard Tournament. The title read 'The boy who lived loves boys'. Seamus snorted in disgust.

"Tossers! They can't even come up with a proper title!" Harry frowned.

"That's the title you suggested…"

"Yeah, but that was a joke. I didn't actually think they'd be so lame as to actually use it…"

They both started to read the caption that followed. It wasn't flattering at all.

'**The Boy Who Lived' loves boys**

"Harry Potter, the boy who lived to save the wizarding world from the Dark Lord, apparently has a few skeletons in his closet. It seems that the Boy Who Lived had chosen a very questionable path in life. During a Quidditch match held in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter, who is playing seeker and captain for the Gryffindor house team, stopped in mid game to proclaim his love for the commentator of the match, a fellow house mate by the name of Seamus Finnigan."

"No way! What a bunch of lying, slandering sons of bitches! My parents are going to kill me…" called Seamus. Harry didn't say anything. He didn't expect anything less from the Prophet but he really wished they hadn't dragged Seamus into it. He scanned the page for the author's name but there was none. Those cowards can't even stand behind their words, he thought furiously.

Professor Lupin, who remained quiet while they read, now asked them what they are going to do about it.

"We thought the best thing to do is to ignore the article and the press in general," explained Harry. Lupin nodded and smiled.

"That's probably the best course at the moment." He turned to Seamus who was white as a sheet and looked miserable and shocked. "Seamus, I think you should write to your parents' immediately and explain the situation to them. I imagine they won't be too happy to find out about it through the paper…"

Seamus nodded slowly and Harry took his hand and whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry you got involved in this mess." Seamus looked up.

"Don't be daft, it's my mess too," he said in a slightly shaken but resolute voice, and got up. "I better go to the owlery and write that damn letter." Professor Lupin nodded.

"I'll explain your absence to professor Slughorn," he said kindly, and Seamus left the room with his head bowed.

Harry scanned through the article again.

"I really wish they hadn't mentioned his name," he said, and Lupin nodded in agreement.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" he asked, moved to sit beside Harry and placed his hand on his shoulder.

Harry shrugged. "I'm already used to their stupid stories. At least they didn't write I'm still crying over my parents." Lupin laughed.

"That _was_ very stupid of Skeeter," he agreed. They both fell silent, watching the paper. Harry lifted his head to look at professor Lupin. He looked sad and old all of a sudden. He was staring at the paper but it was obvious he wasn't seeing it. Harry asked in a small voice, almost afraid to disturb the silence, "Professor, everything alright?" Lupin shook himself from wherever he was and looked at Harry.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about… things." He wasn't looking at Harry, who whispered, "Sirius?" Lupin nodded and sighed.

"When he got arrested I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe he betrayed James and Lily and you. I couldn't believe he betrayed me. And poor Peter was dead. For years I tried to convince myself that something was missing, that it couldn't have been him because I thought I knew him better than anyone else. These were very bad years for me. I couldn't get a job because of my… 'Condition'," his lip curled in disgust around the word,

"and then Dumbledore called for me and I came back here. I haven't been here since I graduated and it was strange for me to walk in the same corridors as before, only this time there were no James or Lily or Peter and there was no Sirius to accompany me. And then I saw Peter in the map, and that changed everything. If Peter wasn't dead than maybe Sirius wasn't guilty and maybe, just maybe things would be alright again. When I woke up in the Hospital wing after that night and realized I almost hurt you and Ron and Hermione and Sirius and even Severus, I felt horrible. I couldn't carry on teaching here after that. Parents were so mad at Dumbledore for giving me the job in the first place; I went into some sort of seclusion for his sake as well as mine. And then I received an owl from Dumbledore telling me of the reformation of the Order of the Phoenix, and I couldn't say no to him because I could help. I wanted to help. And then I met Sirius again, in Grimmauld place. The place he hated most has become his new prison.

"We tried to pick up where we left off but that was impossible, too much had gone wrong, for both of us. Sirius was haunted. He would wake up in the middle of the night screaming, and all I could do was hold him and hope he would someday find some peace. He began to hate the order and envy all of us for being able to move about freely. He hated everything and this hate was festering in him. The only things he never hated were you and Buckbeak. He tried to love me like he did before but he couldn't, he felt like I betrayed him as well by coming and going, by being useful. He resented me for that. It hurt him more to see me go than to see the others go and I didn't want to leave him, but I had no choice. Nobody knew about us, and even if they did, I couldn't stay there all the time. We drove each other insane. And I feared that he would snap and do something crazy. I tried to warn Dumbledore.

"He knew that but there wasn't much he could do himself, not with the entire ministry insisting on looking for Sirius instead of doing the proper thing and preparing to fight Voldemort. And we were right. Sirius did snap, that night in the ministry. We were in Grimmauld place when the call came and none of us could stop him." He stopped and shook his head, blinking back tears. Harry bit his lip and forced himself to stay calm even as the memories came flooding back, of Sirius fighting Bellatrix, Sirius falling to his death. He remembered how the world had gone so quiet, so slow, and how Lupin held him back, so tight, much tighter than was necessary, and Harry thought he understood now why.

"I came back to Grimmauld place one last time after that. I stood in the doorway of the room we shared there and I couldn't bring myself to walk inside. Not without him there. I never set foot in that house again," he finished quietly. Harry looked at his hands and sought for something appropriate to say, but there wasn't anything. It was the first time he felt the pain of Sirius's death through someone else's eyes, through the eyes of the one person who loved him most, and that hurt much more than Harry thought it would.

"Harry," said Lupin all of a sudden and Harry almost jumped in his seat. "Listen to me good! I want you to carry on with your life, and not let those bastards get under your skin. And mostly I want you to follow your heart. Don't let other people ruin your love and don't let yourself doubt it. I don't want you to wake up years from now and realize you lost the only person you ever loved because you were too scared or proud to tell him and love him!" Harry was a little taken aback by the urgent tone in professor Lupin's voice. He nodded and took a deep breath.

"I promise," he said in a loud and clear voice and Lupin smiled.

"Good. Now go find Seamus and help him with the letter and then I want to see the both of you in my class."

On the way to the owlery Harry was thinking about what professor Lupin had said. He knew he would survive this one, after all he'd been through worse and at least the press reported the truth for a change, even if only parts of it, and even that was more than he could expect from them. But he wasn't sure how Seamus would deal with it. When he entered the owlery he found Seamus with his back to the door, holding something in his hand. Harry approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Seamus jumped with surprise; he clearly wasn't expecting anyone to come up there at this time of the day. Then he turned and saw Harry and Harry saw the tears in his eyes. This couldn't be good. Seamus handed him a piece of parchment and Harry read it.

"Seamus," it read, "I read the paper this morning and found the article about you and Harry Potter. I sincerely hope that it was a mistake made by the reporters. No son of mine is going to be a homosexual, an abomination of nature. Please write to me and verify the mistake. Otherwise we have nothing to talk about. Love, Mother."

Harry lifted his head, cursing loudly. "Shit!" Seamus shrugged and smiled between his tears.

"I knew it would be like that. I just hoped it wouldn't."

Harry couldn't think of a single thing to say and instead held Seamus in his arms. "My parents are going to disown me purely because their stupid god doesn't believe in people like me." Seamus laughed bitterly. "Isn't it great?" Harry tightened his hug and conjured a tissue. He gave it to Seamus, who blew his nose and tried to calm himself down.

"What kind of god can create me the way I am and then turn his back on me?" Harry didn't have an answer for that. Religion was never his strong side; he'd never even been to church. Sure, the Dursleys went every Sunday but they always left Harry at home to cook lunch. Besides, he couldn't possibly believe in any god who let him suffer so much through only seventeen years of life.

"Shey, I'm sorry. I… don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. And you don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault Catholics can be so stubborn. I just hoped they would see past the cross and remember I was their son. Foolish of me, isn't it?" His thin sarcasm almost caused Harry to break down himself. It was the silent defeat that pained him most. He knew Seamus wasn't going to fight his parents and he wasn't going to beg for their love and approval.

"I've written back to my mother to tell her there was no mistake, and wished her a happy life. I'm just glad we are finishing school this year and I don't really have to go home for the summer."

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked quietly.

Seamus shrugged. "Get a place in London or something, I guess. I'll probably stay in England. There is nothing for me back home."

They stood in silence for a while. Harry was still holding Mrs. Finnigan letter in his hand.

"We better get a move on if we don't want to be late for Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Seamus, and Harry released him, giving back the letter. Seamus held it in his hand for a minute, and then took his wand, pointed it at the letter and said "Incendio". The parchment curled up and vanished in a small cloud of smoke, the ashes falling to the floor as they made their way to the owlery door.

"Well, look at the bright side. At least she didn't send you a howler in the middle of breakfast…" said Harry as brightly as he could, and Seamus laughed. A shaky, teary laugh, but it was still a laugh, thought Harry.

Before they could turn to leave the door slammed open and in the archway stood a very angry and panting Nora, holding a letter in her hand, her cheeks flushed.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" she threw the letter at Seamus and he read it, his face flushing with anger.

"Fuck, I can't believe that woman!"

"Is it true?" asked Nora in a quiet voice.

"Of course it's bloody true!" Seamus snapped and then took a deep breath to get a hold over himself. "Look, Nora, I don't really care what mum and dad have to say…" she cut him off in mid sentence.

"They told me not to talk to you anymore," she said levelly.

"Are you going to?" he asked, a thin pleading crossing his voice.

"I don't know." She looked down and refused to meet his or Harry's eye.

"Nora, you are twelve, and a Ravenclaw. I believe you can decide for yourself how to handle this. I'm not going to tell you what to do but I'll sure be glad to have you on my side."

"Why are you doing this? Is it to upset mum and dad, some sort of teenage rebellion or something? Because if it is you could just join a bloody band or get a tattoo." Seamus sniggered and then turned serious again.

"It's not a rebellion. I never meant to upset mum and dad."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"I'm not _doing_ anything! It's not like I woke up one morning and said, 'hell, let's be queer'! Look at me, Nora. This is who I am, this is _what_ I am. I can't really change it, and frankly, I don't want to. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of this, it's not fair to you and you shouldn't suffer for it…"

"Don't be daft, Shey! I can take care of myself!" she snapped and then looked up and added in a softer voice, "Are _you_ going to be alright?" Seamus smiled at her and walked over to her and pulled her in a tight hug.

"I guess I'll have to be. But I'm really glad to have you on my side." Nora pulled back.

"Hey! I didn't say I'm on your side! I still think that what you are doing is wrong but I also think that mum and dad have gone a little too far."

"Well, I guess it's a start," said Seamus, and tried to smile reassuringly at his sister. All three of them stood in silence for a while, each looking at a different corner of the owlery. Eventually Harry glanced at his watch and said in a small voice, "We better go, class starts in five minutes". Seamus and Nora nodded and Harry smiled at the way they looked so much alike.

The day wore on into evening and Harry was glad it was over and that he could go to his dorms and not face anyone anymore. He felt almost dirty and wanted to shake all those stares away. All throughout lunch, dinner and classes there were hundreds of eyes on him and Seamus, whispering as they passed around the corridors. Most looks were curious, some condemning, some approving (too few of those, Harry thought). He just wanted to shrug them off and go on with his life. He bit down his wounded pride and bowed his head, wishing he was on the other end of things when people finally lost interest and moved on to deal with other gossip. He wasn't really worried about himself but he was worried about Seamus. He seemed to be coping well with what was going around but he wasn't _happy_. He had told their friends about the letter from his mother and they were all properly appalled and sympathetic. If the matter hadn't been so serious, Harry would have found it hilarious.

There wasn't much anyone could do. Seamus just had to come to terms with the fact that his nature clashed with his parents' faith. But it wasn't easy to throw away years of education and belief and none of his friends understood that, not even Harry. None of them were catholic, except Neville, but he wasn't a very good one.

Their house mates all tried to support them Gryffindor style, which meant trying to keep their spirits as high as possible by ignoring the problem. Harry personally preferred the Ravenclaw way – he met Terry in the corridor and when asked how he dealt with things, Harry said he was doing okay, and Terry suggested hexing people who had too much to say on the subject or even looked funny in his direction. Harry laughed but found he had to physically stop himself from actually doing so. Not everyone held themselves back though, as shown by the two detentions Ginny got for sending a couple of second years to the Hospital wing after making fun of Harry and Seamus. Harry and Ron were so proud of her.

Every morning the owls dropped an enormous amount of letters on Harry's plate. For the first few days they were all hate mail, slandering Harry and Seamus and the homosexual life style in general. Soon the Gryffindors stopped opening them. At first they burned them, much to the delight of all, until McGonagall forbade them doing so anymore since the cinders ended up in everybody's food.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was the first sunny Sunday in over a month and everyone used it to get some vitamin D and tan. Since it was still freezing cold and the grounds were still sparkling white with snow, they had to find other solutions. The Gryffindors, for example, basked on the roof of their tower after creating a protective dome and a couple of warming charms. It felt like being in a greenhouse of sorts.

Harry and Seamus lay spread on the floor, surrounded by the seventh years and Ginny. Harry took off his robe, folded it under his head to make a pillow and closed his eyes. The sun was warm and he was drifting into a lazy nap, half listening to the discussion around him.

"Maybe I should just turn Jewish," said Seamus thoughtfully.

"I don't think Jews are too keen about gays either," said Hermione without looking up from her book.

"Why is it that all religions have such a problem with homosexuality?" Seamus rose on his elbows to watch her.

"Well, because it defies God's creation, like any good abomination. I think people are so disconnected from God and eternity, or if you like – moral standards that they're inclined to a mobbing behavioural pattern, like animals, led by a very basic passion and hatred and very human pettiness, instead of justice and love. Homosexual love is not unknown; it just doesn't fit the mob." Hermione looked like she was about to launch into a long and elaborate explanation, so Seamus stopped her.

"It was a rhetorical question, Hermione." All around them people started to snigger without bothering to open their eyes. Hermione huffed and returned to her book.

"Men go crazy in congregations  
They only get better one by one"

Everyone lifted their heads to look at Dean, who was propped on his elbows looking back at them.

"What did you say?" asked Neville and Dean repeated his words.

"It's a line from a song by Sting." Seamus told Neville, who nodded with a frown that showed he had no idea what Seamus or Dean was talking about. Dean rolled his eyes and explained.

"Sting is a muggle artist, a singer." Ron looked up,

"A singer called Sting? Like a bee?"

"Yes."

"That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard of." declared Ron and Hermione sighed,

"Ron, try not to be so thick for a change! Obviously it's not his _real_ name; it's just his stage name." Ron looked as if he was about to snap at Hermione when Harry chipped in,

"He was the leader of the "Police"," Ron, Ginny and Neville looked at him with blank faces while Dean, Seamus and Hermione tried to hide their smiles "It's a music band." he added helpfully for Ron, Ginny and Neville's sakes.

"Well, that seems very fishy to me." said Ron hauntingly, and Hermione scolded at him again,

"Damn it Ron! How can you be such a hypocrite?" Ron gave her a highly offended look and she stormed on, "You always look down on us whenever we fail to know things about the wizarding world you find obvious, so don't you act like we are talking rubbish just because you have absolutely no understanding in muggle music!" Ron was about to give her an acidic retort when he caught sight of the faces of Dean, Seamus and Harry and sighed.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like a snob, to all you muggle born and raised. But you have to admit that Sting is a weird name."

"I just like his music, I never questioned his name choosing motives." said Dean and the said muggle born and raised nodded.

"Could we hear his songs?" asked Ginny,

"Sure, soon as we leave this castle and find a place that actually runs on electricity. I have pretty much every album he ever published back home." said Dean enthusiastically.

"Are there any more muggle artists?" asked Neville and they sniggered,

"Of course there are. Gods, you pure bloods have absolutely no idea there is actually a whole different world out there do you!" called Seamus and Neville blushed, "As a matter of fact, I find muggle music to be much better than wizarding music. It has its own sort of magic," Hermione, Dean and Harry nodded in approval at his words.

"Don't look too crestfallen, Nev," said Harry "I grew up with muggles and the music they listened to was quite rubbish, if you ask me, so I hardly know good muggle music myself." Seamus looked at him with a smile

"Well, then, I guess we'll just have to give you all a little101 in music" Harry thought that Seamus and Dean looked a little too exited about the whole idea, but it was good to see Seamus enthusiastic about things again, not to mention the whole idea promised a lot of laughs at Ron's expance.

All seven of them slowly sank back to their lying positions on the floor; the heat of their charms was sending everyone into a hazy, sleepy mode again.

After a while Ron rose to a sitting position, looked at Harry and Seamus, who lay next to each other, not touching, and exclaimed as if the thought had just crossed his mind, "You know you are always invited to stay at the Burrow, both of you." Harry and Seamus both opened their eyes.

"Thanks mate, that really means a lot," said Seamus and smiled at Ron. "Will your mother be okay with that?" he asked.

"As long as you don't bring her any boomerangs, you'll be fine," said Ginny without opening her eyes and everyone laughed.

* * *

**Author's note:** Sometimes it helps to have Jewish religious friends… Love you B. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.

**Summery:** All well, ends well. (I'm an optimistic at heart, I can't do dark forboding end.)

**Bata:** Beankin'– I thank you so very much for that.

* * *

**Mad About You – Chapter 10 and short Epilogue**

Artist – Sting. Title – Mad about you. Album – The soul cages.

On Monday morning Harry sat at the breakfast table, it was a week since the Prophet published its article and although he didn't read the paper himself Hermione kept him well informed. Two days after the first article the Prophet published a review about gays. The bottom line of the three pages article was that the author believed that homosexuals belonged in St. Mungo's hospital, preferably in ward 49- the incurable cases. The author of the article (surprisingly enough, was _not_ Rita Skeeter, but he or she still refused to expose themselves, much to Harry and Hermione's annoyance) used Harry as an example to emphases his point. When Hermione saw that she was so mad she was about to sent the Prophet a howler with some well chosen comments to show what she thought of them but Harry managed to persuade her that the Prophet is not worth her time or anger and that it's not going to do any good and most likely do more harm. After the trash article the Prophet seemed to calm from their rampage crusade against Harry and gays and the subject left the front page. Harry found the Prophet's attitude almost insulting.

That morning when the owls brought the post he was showered with the usual amount letters falling into his plate and juice. All around him people were fishing letters out of porridge and cereal bowls, pumpkin juice goblets and butter dishes.

"What the hell?" called Ron as a sharp corner of a letter hit him on the top of the head "I thought we were done with those!" Hermione picked up a letter in random and opened it, she scan its contents and started to laugh. She passed the letter to Harry,

"You've got to be joking." he called out. Ron grabbed the letter and read it,

"Harry, this is a letter from a woman who wants to set you up with her son…" everyone around the table grabbed a letter and opened them.

"Looks like they are all like that," said Ginny "You're very popular Harry." she winked at him.

"This is ridiculous" said Harry hotly "The stupid paper clearly stated I have a boyfriend!" everyone started to laugh, including Seamus. "I never got these many letters when people thought I was straight." the laughter around him grew. At that moment Luna Lovegood passed by their table. When she saw the stack of fan mail she smiled and turned to Harry,

"I see it worked," she said with a big smile and they all turned to look at her in surprise,

"What are you talking about, Luna? What worked?" said Ron, still a little cross and rubbing his head. Luna smiled her dreamy smile and produced an issue of the 'Quibbler' from her bag and handed it to Harry,

"Look in the middle page," she pointed and Harry opened the magazine. After a brief scan of the context he passed it to Seamus with a smile. While Seamus was busy reading Harry turned back to Luna.

"Well, it looks like I've been saved by the 'Quibbler' yet again. Thank you."

"It wasn't really my doing, I just mentioned to father that being gay never stopped you from saving us all." she nodded and waived to the table and left humming to herself. Every head in the table turned to watch her leave and then turned to watch Seamus who was still reading the "Quibbler" and sniggering to himself.

"What's going on here?" asked Ron impatiently as neither Harry nor Seamus explained what was written in the magazine,

"The "Quibbler" is once again recruited to the mission of saving my good name," said Harry. Seamus passed the magazine to Ron and he and Hermione leaned to read it. Once it passed the entire Gryffindor table, everyone returned to open and read the letters.

"Hey, this one's looks good," called Ginny "this woman says her son is six foot three, blonde hair and green eyes. She says here that he loves Quidditch and surfing. You should go for him."

"Ginny, that's not funny," Harry began when Seamus cut in,

"I'll take him," Harry looked at him gaping "What, do you want to share?" Seamus voice was innocent but he couldn't keep a straight face as the table broke in fresh peels of laughter around them. Harry punched his shoulder playfully. This was the first time in the last week he'd seen Seamus laugh. It was a good sign. Hermione and Ginny collected all the letters 'for future interest' as Ginny said with a wink.

Everyone got up to make their way to class, except Harry who had a free period. He was wondering what to do with his time. The proper thing to do would be to go to the library to study of course, but somehow he didn't feel like it. Instead he made his way down the corridor, not entirely sure where he was heading when he heard a voice calling his name. Harry turned and saw Bill Weasley's head popping from the door of his office,

"Fancy a cup of tea?" asked Bill brightly and Harry nodded.

They sat drinking their tea quietly for a while and then Bill looked up with a smile,

"That was one brilliant story the "Quibbler" wrote about you," Harry looked up in surprise,

"I didn't know you read the "Quibbler"."

"I don't," he said casually while his smile broadened, "I confiscated it from a couple of first years. They were over exited about some article and talking about you. I had to see for myself," he explained and Harry laughed. "Well, in any rate that should please mother."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry curiously, wondering what Mrs. Weasley was up to this time.

"Well, when the articles came out in the Prophet she got so mad, she actually sent the editor a howler. I'm actually surprised you didn't get one too. She was fuming that neither you nor Ron didn't bother tell her anything. I told her howlers was a bad idea but you know how she gets when it comes to you." Harry could feel his cheeks going red,

"Come on, she would have done the same for any of you." he mumbled and Bill shrugged,

"Welcome to the Weasley clan, brother." he smiled and winked and they both laughed.

"So, how are Fleur and Claire doing?" Harry asked mainly to start a conversation that was not about his sexuality in what felt like ages.

"They are doing great," said Bill happily and pulled a stack of photographs to show Harry. All the pictures showed a lovely baby, with golden hair and blue eyes, and Harry smiled.

"She's lovely," he said fondly and Bill beamed with the pride of a new father.

"George says Claire is lucky to get her mother's looks rather than mine." said Bill and Harry smiled. Personally he didn't have any objections to way Bill looked. He still wore his fang earring but he cut his hair short (he could resist his mother but both Mrs. Weasley _and_ Fleur were a bit too much for him). The scars on the left side of his face were still visible but they only served to make him look even more subtle and manly than he did before, at least in Harry's opinion.

"So, when are you guys planning to get married?" he asked. He knew very well that Mrs. Weasley was very much against the idea of Bill and Fleur "living in sin" as she put it. After Claire was born during the summer of the previous year, she insisted they marry at once. The fact they were in the middle of a war didn't matter to her in the least. In the end Bill and Fleur managed to persuade her to drop it until things calmed down. But now that the war was over she began to insist on marriage again. Fred and George graciously took it upon themselves to ask Bill the question whenever they saw him and that robbed off to Ron and Ginny, and since Bill was currently teaching Transfiguration in Hogwarts (now that McGonagall was bumped up to Headmistress position) he got to hear it quite a lot. Bill heaved a great sigh of mock regret and shook his head,

"You've become a true Weasley… Shame on you Harry." Harry smiled broadly and beamed at him with pride and Bill laughed,

"Actually we set the date to July 15th. I think we are going to do it in the Burrow. Fleur doesn't want to travel all the way to France with Claire, she claims Claire's too young."

"That's wonderful." called Harry and Bill sighed,

"No it isn't… it's only February and already Fleur and my mother are making plans. And they force me to go to get measured up for robes and all that," he sounded almost desperate and Harry couldn't help but laugh. Bill glanced at his watch.

"Bugger. I have class in ten minutes. And so do you." they finished their tea and Harry bade Bill goodbye before heading for the greenhouses for Herbolgy.

The conversation with Bill made him feel so much better. All the events of the day so far made him feel better, actually. It was good to know that not everyone were against him. It was comforting. And in a way, it felt like some sort of balance was restored to the universe.

That night Harry left his bed to snick into Seamus'. He figured there was no need to hide anymore as all his friends, hell, all the wizarding and probably half the muggle world already knew they were together. He was pretty sure that his dorm mates will not object the two of them sleeping in the same bed. After all it wasn't like they did anything indecent, that they saved for the Room of Requirement.

**FIN**

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**Epilogue**

Just like everything else in life, people eventually got tiered of probing in our life and we were left alone. In fact the whole 'Propheting', as Ginny began to refer to every article the Prophet was publishing, brought out some of the most unexpected people out of the closet, like Zacharias Smith (much to Ginny's disappointment as her theory came crushing down around her ears). I'd like to believe that at least some good came out of it all. It defiantly made my relationship with Seamus much stronger. I'm very glad to report that Nora didn't listen to her parents and is still talking to her brother; in fact, she is growing up to be quite a stubborn young lady, with a very hot temper. We'd like to believe we have finally found a worthy successor to Ginny.

Ginny once asked me what was it that made me fall in love with Seamus. I didn't give her an answer at the time (she probably still think it's the sex) but ever since then I've been trying to answer the question myself.

I believe it's the little things. The way he sometimes looks at me when he thinks I can't see him, his face all soft and so beautiful. The way he makes me laugh, or the way he can never hold grudge or even stay mad at things for too long. He forgets, it's amazing- he can have a huge fight with someone and two hours later forget it ever happened.

I love the way he loves me for me, not for some super hero notion as everyone else sees me. It could be the fact that Voldemort never terrorized Ireland the way he did England and so Seamus didn't grow up worshiping my name.

I love it that we have the same taste in music and movies (we discovered the magic of the cinema when we left school and moved to London).

And the sex… I can't deny it's a very big part of our lives. One of the best parts really. Even back in school we never used to show our love in public, you'd have to be really daft not to see it but we never walked about holding hands or snogging in front of everyone. As a matter of fact we still don't, it's not because we have something to hide, it's because we don't really feel the need to get over fluffy. Even when we are alone we don't go over romantic, there is only a little candle/chocolate fetish. But sex is something we are very fond of, and although I don't really have a very wide base for comparison, very good at as well.

Back in the Hogwarts days we used to sneak to the Room of Requirement almost every night. Not only as to not upset Ron, Dean and Neville but mainly because it was much more fun. We used to take turns 'decorating' the room. While I stayed with the solid bed-fireplace-bathroom trinity, Seamus took things almost to the edge of his imagination. Some ideas were rather horrible, like the one with the mirrors all over the walls and ceiling, but others were quite nice like that one with the giant fish tank that covered the entire wall. We stayed up half the night making up fish and watching them, not very sexually productive but a lot of fun.

The only time I tried for imaginative design, Seamus said the room looked like a cross between the tower of London and a French prostitute's boudoir. He also said it would make a great S&M dungeon if it wasn't for the purple armchairs (and I was aiming for forget-me-not blue…).

Anyway, got a little side tracked back there… where was I? Oh, yes. In the end of things I'm really glad I took professor Lupin's advise (not that there was much doubt I would but I'm still glad I did) and stayed true to myself, and my love.

Seamus and I moved to London once we graduated from Hogwarts. We have a lovely flat in a partly magical area, not far from Diagon alley. We are still very much together and still very much in love and still have a lot of fun with our friends or by ourselves. But that's all for a different story.

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**Author's note:** Thus conclude the 'saga' of Harry and Seamus (I know it's not a real saga, but it still sounds better than 'story', more impressive). If you're still curious about them and what became of them once they left Hogwarts you can find glimpses of their life in my other fics. Good luck and thank you for reading. 


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